


Boy-perhaps-young-man?... small man

by youngjae_enthusiast



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Again, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Kinda?, M/M, Pre-Slash, Slightly - Freeform, also i don't know how dorms work, also vomiting, awkward and sweet, coups is a cop, hoshi is bad at keeping a promise, i don't know what to name seungcheol's brother, jihoon is a collage student, jihoon likes elbowing people, jihoon's confused, kind of halloween inspired, like he isn't taller, mingyu finds it absolutely hilarious how short woozi is compared to coups, seungcheol is a cheeky motherfucker, seungcheol is done with life, soonyoung is the best wingman, there is no real blood but there are descriptions of fake blood seeming real, uhhhh.. fake blood??, wedding (not jicheols), woozi is also done with life but slightly too drunk to properly express it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2018-12-14 21:11:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11791566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngjae_enthusiast/pseuds/youngjae_enthusiast
Summary: Prompt: I’m a cop, we found you in a dark alley during my patrol and I thought you were dead, but then you grabbed my hand, what the fuck, you scared the hell out of me.I'm sorry for the title woozi. Also i was looking for prompts on what to write and i didn't even plan to write this one. It just kinda,,, happened.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> wELL. here I am again not even 12 hours after i posted my first story. it was fun writing so i might continue to do it,,,  
> also i totally did not plan to make another jicheol story, but it's so much fun writing jihoon being done with life like i relate so much.,,, i really kind of need to get around to writing one that isnt pre-slash. or at least something that EVOLVES smh anyways enjoy

How Jihoon ended up laying amongst trash in a scabby alley somewhere around the buttcrack of dawn was beyond him, but as usual, he could probably find a way to blame Soonyoung.

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“Come on Jihoonieeee~~ you need to live life like the young man you are! Party a little, drink a little, throw up in a ditch, you know, all the good stuff in life!” Soonyoung begged,  
“There’s this party I was telling you about tonight, and I’ll even let you go without dressing up as anything drastic!” he continued, thinking himself generous. He received a rather unimpressed stare from the short man, but fucking hell, this time he wouldn’t give up. Jihoon needed to do something other than work and sleep, even if he didn’t know it himself.

“Soonyoung, need I remind you who ditched me in favor of scaling a playground rooftop making me eventually have to call the fire department last time we were out?” the blonde questioned,  
“I’m not going to any party with you, nonetheless a fucking halloween party.” he glowered, shaking his head.

The dark-haired boy sighed and gave him his biggest and most lethal puppy eyes, “Jihoonie…” he whined, “please come with me? I promise I won’t ditch you, and you know I can’t be trusted to go to a party by myself.” he pleaded. He wouldn’t actually be by himself since some of their friends were already there, but Jihoon didn’t need to know that yet.

“No, Soonyoung. I don't like halloween, I don’t like people, and I really don’t like drinking myself stupid and ending up in a ditch somewhere.” he retorted. That stung a bit. The one time Jihoon did end up in a ditch it was indeed Soonyoung’s fault, but it hadn’t been that bad. He only woke up a couple of miles from the dorm, and to be frank it was an improvement from where Soonyoung woke up.

At this point Soonyoung knew he’d have to change tactics. “Well…” he sighed, “I suppose you’ll just have to get around to writing that god awful report you haven’t done, while the rest of us go out to dance and party.” He mused, “Oh, and doing the dishes, and opening your door every five minutes for trick and treaters… Seems like a fun evening my friend.” he knew how much Jihoon detested human interaction in the comfort of his home. He glanced at the younger while pacing around, making it seem like he was pitying Jihoon for staying home, rather than pitying himself for failing to bring him.

“Honestly, I would have thought that you’d prefer going out with your old pal Hosh to screaming kids asking for candy, but I guess I was wrong…” the dark-haired man sighed, looking truly disappointed.  
“I honestly can’t say I see a difference in the two.” the blond retaliated.  
While Soonyoung was busy mocking a look of hurt he stood up with a heavy sigh. 

He fixed Soonyoung with a stern stare. “I’ll go if you promise me that I’ll wake up in my own bed tomorrow, preferably not feeling like death itself.” He could practically see Soonyoung lighting up like a christmas tree. Seriously, his smile was ridiculously bright.

“I promise!! I’ll personally bring you back to your dorm and make sure you get the sleep you so often evade!” he beamed. 

Jihoon had already started to pray for his life. You can never start to early, really.  
His friend practically skipped to the corner of the room where he’d put his bag down, and with a mischievous look in his eyes, he turned back towards the younger. At this point said man considered backing out, but a promise was a promise, and he truly did not want to deal with trick or treaters that day.

The taller came back with some makeup, clothes, and what looked to be three bottles of fake blood.  
The blond fixed him with a stare just about equal to Satan’s, “You really had it all planned, huh..” he murmured. “Come on, I said I’d go. Do I really need to dress up as well?” he questioned in vain. He already knew what was coming. 

“Sweetie, you can’t not be dressed up going to a halloween party.” the older chirped, “besides, it won’t be anything drastic! Just some ripped jeans and blood. You’ll look scary enough with just that I think.” he hummed. Especially with that expression, he thought.  
“Now! Let’s get to it!” He clasped his hands together after putting the things on the bed.

Jihoon sighed. He was already regretting this.

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Now in retrospect, he couldn’t blame Soonyoung completely, considering that he only really made him take three shots. (of a questionable drink) The rest of the alcohol was on him.  
However, it most certainly was not his idea to leave the party in favor of walking around town, drunk of his ass.

Jihoon was so focused on walking that he completely missed the street pole coming up. Honestly, he didn’t even really feel the impact, but he did find himself on the ground laughing his head off with his friends.

Amy probably took more damage falling over laughing than Jihoon did walking into that pole.

“Holy shit…” she wheezed, “I can’t believe you just… totally walked into… a fucking pole..!!” she had to pause for breath, and needed more than a little help getting back up on her feet.  
In the meantime Jihoon just laughed and crawled back up, using the offensive lamp pole to climb back up. At this point he was dizzier than ever, walking in a zigzag pattern and nearly falling back over.

All of a sudden someone (most likely Soonyoung) said they were going to throw up and the whole group grabbed his arms and (unsteadily) dragged him towards an alley. They didn’t have much rational sense left, but the people glaring at them reminded them that throwing up in the middle of the street is, in fact not socially acceptable.

Honestly, looking at his friend throwing up made him feel his own nausea rising up, and he haphazardly made his way further down the alley to throw up himself. However when he actually got to the end of the alley his stomach had stopped it’s rebellion, and he turned back to answer the call of Jeonghan asking if he was ok. He confirmed, giving a thumbs up, and promptly sat down beside some trash bags. 

He could barely see his friends moving away, and he didn’t see the importance of getting up and joining. He’d catch up to them when he felt less dizzy. He decided to lean against one of the bags and closed his eyes a bit in hope of it clearing his mind. No such luck it seems, as everything started spinning as soon as he closed them. He did lean more heavily on the trash bag though, and before he knew it he’d drifted off.

 

 

___________________________________________________________________________

 

 

“So,” the tall man said, “how’s life recently?”. Seungcheol just stared at him.  
“Mingyu, that’s the third time you’ve asked me that in like an hour. Have I not made it clear enough that I just want to finish the patrol and get back to the station without small talk?” he deadpanned. Mingyu looked a bit disappointed. “Well yeah, I just thought time might go faster if we had a, you know, actual conversation.”

He tilted his head back to look at the dark sky, “Honestly, you’ve seemed kind of tense the last few weeks.” he sighed, “Did something happen?”

He got a tired sigh and slight smile in return. “No, it’s fine. Just a lot that’s been on my mind recently. I’ll be fine though.”

Truthfully, Seungcheol knew that he was treating his coworker (and friend) unfairly, but he wasn’t lying. He did have a lot on his mind. His parents were moving, and his mom kept pestering him about how he needed to find someone to settle down with soon. He knew that he was at the age where most people found someone to date seriously, but honestly, he was more focused on his job at the moment. It’s not that he hadn’t gone on dates, he had. He just didn’t seem to click with anyone, and he figured he should take a break from the relationship life and focus more on work.

It didn’t help that his last girlfriend had left him because he “seemed more interested in work than her”. Which wasn’t a total lie, but he had actually liked her. Although the breakup was smooth and a tad bit expected, it still hurt a bit. He couldn’t hold it against her for breaking up. It wasn’t working out, and she decided to move on and hopefully find someone who gave her more affection and love than Seungcheol did. They did part on good enough terms and they even stopped by to chat once in awhile. He was glad that he still had her around, because even as a friend he enjoyed talking to her.

He was ripped out of his musings by the sight of something out of place in the alley ahead. He made eye contact with Mingyu and got out a flashlight. He cautiously moved towards the end of the alley. When he got closer he recoiled from the sight of a very bloody body lying amongst the trash. 

“Holy shit…” he whispered, he stealthed closer and turned to his partner to hear what he had to say.

Mingyu took a deep breath and licked his lips, “It seems like a child…” he looked quite uncomfortable, and shuffled in place for a bit.  
“You should probably check his pulse though, he might still be alive.”

Seungcheol nodded and gulped. “Right.”  
Taking a deep breath, he bent down to get closer to the body. It did seem like he was young. It made him sick to the stomach how someone could do something like this.

Just as he was about to reach his hand out towards the victim’s neck his hand was grabbed and the boy’s eyes fluttered open.

“HOLY FUCKING SHIT!” Seungcheol yelped and wretched his hand back towards himself. His heart was beating way too fast. He watched as the boy struggled to sit up and blearily casted Seungcheol some confused glances.

“What the fuck…” he heard Mingyu whisper from behind him. 

When he finally sat up properly he fixed Seungcheol with a long, puzzled look.  
“What the fuck… even is this…” he said slowly. Groaning as he stretched his neck a bit.

It took Seungcheol a few seconds to react, “...What…? You’re not.. I mean, you’re ok..?”  
He received a muddled stare. “No,” the boy answered after a beat, “I’m not okay. I’m going to kill Soonyoung and I’m going to move a couple of towns over because I probably did something very embarrassing last night.” he looked confused for a moment. “Wait, what time is it?”

Seungcheol couldn’t find it in himself to answer, still shellshocked.  
“Uhh… it’s 04:46am…” he heard Mingyu smartly answer.

“Oh…” he paused, “that explains why I don’t feel completely sober yet.”  
The small man seemed to become more and more aware each second that passed.  
“Wait a minute.” he squinted at Seungcheol, “you’re a policeman.” he blurted smartly.

Seungcheol raised an eyebrow, seemingly back to normal. This was just some drunk kid passed out in an alley. Not a new murder case. “Wait a second, what about all of the blood?” he questioned.

“What.” was all he got. The kid looked down on himself, seemingly confused, and most likely more than a little tipsy still.

Mingyu put two and two together and face-palmed hard enough for Seungcheol to turn around. “Hyung, it’s halloween.” he sighed, obviously disappointed in himself for not taking that into consideration. “It’s fake blood.”

It was Seungcheols’ turn to sigh and shake his head. “That explains the lack of smell…” he commented tiredly. Well, at least this didn’t mean countless nights at the station trying to solve another murder case. He turned back to the kid with the intention of asking him where he lived when he realized that he’s most likely underage. He let out yet another suffering sigh. This meant he had to call the kid’s parents and stuff first.

“Hey, kid.” he waved a hand in front of him, “Can you focus for me?”. When he was sure he had the boy’s attention he continued. “I need to call your parents, do you have your phone with you?”

He received an affronted look “Excuse me?” 

Seungcheol sighed yet again. “I need to talk to your parents so that you can get home safely, and I need to question them a bit.” He clarified.

“What the fuck. How old do you think I am.” the boy demanded, practically seething.

At this point Seungcheol was a bit confused. “Uh…” he pondered whether or not to actually answer that, “maybe around… 15? 16?” he cautioned.

It turned silent for a few seconds before a soft ‘Fuck you’ was heard.  
Seungcheol gaped at the boy in surprise.

“I’m a 21 year old man, dickhead” he hissed, surprisingly clearly, considering how intoxicated the smaller most likely still was.

The taller couldn’t help the way his jaw dropped, and judging by the gasp he heard over his shoulder, he wasn’t the only one surprised.

He quickly gathered his wits and cleared his throat. “Yeah, ok. Uhm.. Do you maybe have your wallet around so I could confirm that?” He questioned cautiously.

 

He received a dirty look from the boy-perhaps-young-man, but was handed his wallet. Seungcheol quickly confirmed the fact that he was, in fact, not lying about his age, and returned the wallet to the… small man. 

He lightly scratched his head, trying to figure out what to do.  
“Well…” he stood up and put his hands on his waist, letting out a sigh, “I’m still going to need to make sure you get home safely, so…” he paused, watching the man try (and fail) to get up on his feet. “... I was going to ask if you could walk on your own, but it doesn’t seem likely…” he mumbled to himself.

He turned towards his colleague. “Mingyu, could you go get the car? Park it at the side of the road and I’ll be right there with this guy.” He got a nod of confirmation, and watched as Mingyu backed out of the alley.

He took a deep breath to steel himself and turned back around to face the guy still struggling to get up. He let out a sigh and walked over to haul him up, wrapping an arm around his waist and starting to slowly walk towards the street. 

“So, what’s your name little guy.” He said without thinking. He received an elbow to the side and a huff. Yeah, he kinda deserved that. “Sorry,” trying not to laugh, he tried again, “What’s your name?”

“Lee Jihoon.” Straight answer to a straight question. The taller hummed a bit, noticing that the sky was starting to get brighter. “Well, my name is Choi Seungcheol.” he offered. “How did you end up in a shady alley anyway?” he coaxed.

“Hmmm… I’m not entirely sure.” the man slurred, “I think I was on my way somewhere with my friends and we stopped for some reason at the alley.” he pondered. “I guess I passed out or something and my asshole friend that promised me that I would wake up in my own bed ditched me.” He frowned at the thought. Although he was already smithing plans on what he could get out of Soonyoung for breaking his promise.

“I see. Doesn’t seem like a very good friend if you ask me.” Seungcheol shrugged, spotting the police car and moving towards it.  
Jihoon glared at him and elbowed him again.

“Ow! Stop doing that!” the taller exclaimed.

“You’re not allowed to diss my friend. I’m the only one allowed to say anything bad about my friend.” he scolded, scowl in place.

Seungcheol eyed him incredulously. Well, he guessed he could understand that.

 

They finally got to the car, and Seungcheol put the smaller into the backseat as softly as he could, which, admittedly was not very softly. Seungcheol was quite strong, and although Jihoon did not weigh that much, he was after all, still an uncooperating human being. Not very easy to handle, unfortunately.

He managed to get into the passenger seat himself, and turned around to get the address of of Jihoon. Jihoon sleepily told him the address, and then promptly passed right back out, leaning against the window. Seungcheol snorted softly and let out a sigh. 

“So how did it go? Bringing the guy here I mean.” Mingyu asked, side glancing him while staring at the road.

“Hmm? It went fine i guess? I mean he’s kind of tiny, it wasn’t much of a problem.” he answered. 

Mingyu tried to hold back his laugh but failed miserably. Seungcheol sent him a questioning glare. “What’s so funny?”

“I just…” he had to pause for another laugh, “whoo man!” he wiped a tear from the side of his eye, trying to collect himself. “it looked… so freaking funny. He was so much shorter than you! You looked like a couple!” He giggled.

Seungcheol fixed him with a deadpan stare. “You do realize that you’re even taller than me? How would it look if you were the one helping him walk?” he countered, “Anyway, I don’t get why it’s so funny? Especially since he was like, covered in blood.” he sighed, tired of his friends antics.

They made their way to Jihoon’s dorm with minor laugh attacks on Mingyu’s part. When they arrived they had some trouble getting the small man to wake up however. Mingyu could feel a smile growing on his face. “Well Hyung, I guess you’re just going to have to carry him.” he teased. Seungcheol glared at him and told him how ridiculous he was, and that he didn’t even know his dorm number.

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

And yet, he found himself outside of the car with an armful of Jihoon, cursing the Gods and Mingyu’s ancestors. He heaved a sigh and walked towards the dorms. When he got there he was pleased to find that the doors were open. He made his way inside and found himself at a loss of where to go. He decided to put the smaller on the couch and dig up his keys in the hope of them telling him the room number. 

He tried to not think about how he was basically feeling this guy up trying to find his keys, and immediately erased the memory of how Jihoon’s butt felt in his hands. Ignoring any improper thoughts he instead heaved Jihoon back up and made his way towards the room while mentally chanting ‘I am a police officer’ over and over again.

 

As soon as he made it to the room he unlocked and opened it. (with slight difficulty. He did only have two hands)  
He sincerely hoped that whoever Jihoon’s roommate was, they were currently out.  
Luck seemed to be on Seungcheol’s side as no one was inside and he could calmly make his way over to the beds. He had to chance on which bed was actually Jihoon's, and slowly bent down to lower the boy onto the bed. 

He decided to leave a note explaining how he got home, and telling him to be careful in the future for good measure. When he was done he heaved a deep sigh and stared down at the small man. The stare continued on for a slightly longer than acceptable time.

“I am a police officer. I am a police officer…” he whispered to himself to ward away any bad thoughts. He shook his head and turned away, and with one last glance back, he exited the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Waking up was not a pleasant experience for Jihoon. He immediately swore to himself never to be persuaded to do anything ever again if it involved Soonyoung and alcohol. 

 

Surprisingly enough, his head didn’t pound as heavily as it usually did, but he did suffer a heck of a nausea kick and probably some memory loss. He groaned, feeling gross from sleeping in his clothes and the now dry fake blood. He concluded that staying in bed any longer would  _ not _ be beneficial, and that he would probably feel more gross the longer he did. And honestly, making it to the bathroom before he threw up seemed like a good idea.

 

Baby steps though. He rubbed his eyes and cradled his head, absolutely despising this kind of nausea that only ever occurred after a night of drinking. He released a suffering sigh, and reached for his phone. Not finding it in it’s usual spot on the bedside table panicked him for a moment before he remembered that it must still be in his pocket. He found his keys as well, making him take a couple of points of off Soonyoung’s punishment list.

 

He barely managed to catch the time before his phone promptly died on him. Curse iPhones, honestly. Well, 11:07am wasn’t to bad. While he reached to charge his phone he saw a piece of paper lying on his bedside table. Confused, he reached for it.

 

Good morning sunshine.

I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m the cop who helped you get home last night (early morning). You were passed out in an alley and frankly, kind of shit-faced.

Firstly, I want to apologize for assuming you were a minor. Secondly, be more careful next time please. Don’t leave your friends when you’re not sober enough to walk.

Drink some orange juice and eat something, it’ll help with your hangover.

Until next time. /Choi Seungcheol

 

Screaming internally, he put the note back down where he found it. Upside down though, he didn’t want to accidently read it again. He did remember parts of the encounter, he hadn’t been that drunk during that time. But frankly, he wished he had been, just so that he wouldn’t have to remember it.

 

He hadn’t felt this embarrassed since he and Soonyoung accidently crashed a wedding when they were 17. How was it that he, out of all people, was the one who had to be escorted home by a police officer? He told himself that it was fine, that he would never meet the guy again, and that he’s probably had worse, but he couldn’t forget about it.

He sighed and ran a hand through his greasy hair. At least he didn’t know where Soonyoung woke up this time. He’d have to call him when he felt more like a human being, but for now, a shower sounded good.

 

A hungover Jihoon is about as coordinated as a bumble bee. On his way to the bathroom he ran into a total of four (4) objects. A personal record, considering the bathroom wasn’t even ten feet away.

 

What he saw in the mirror definitely suited the way he felt. A crusty ass zombie. He understood now why the officer had screamed when he woke up. How was he even supposed to wash all of this crap of? 

 

Deciding not to give one fuck, he went into the shower completely clothed. He didn’t want to deal with the pain of trying to take of a shirt that had completely stuck to his skin due to the fake blood. Cursing Soonyoung one last time, he decided that, no, halloween was definitely not his favourite holiday.

  
  


________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
  


Seungcheol didn’t wake up any happier than he’d been when he fell asleep, and he’d been exhausted and cranky after that long ass shift. Dealing with drunk people during holidays was not something he enjoyed. Although, when disregarding the mild heart attack the small man had caused, he had to admit that this particular one hadn’t been all that bad.

 

He guessed that being awoken to the sound of his mother’s voice shouting at him to open the front door would make any man unhappy.

 

He groaned, not ready to face the day, but he knew that there would be consequences in ignoring Mrs. Choi, so he braced himself and sluggishly moved towards the front door of his apartment. Taking a deep breath, he opened it, revealing a woman in her late 50’s doing God knows what at his front door. She beamed at her son and pulled him in for a hug.

 

Even though he was tired and annoyed, Seungcheol had to admit that he missed his mom’s hugs sometimes. He had learnt at this point not to question why she was at his apartment, she’d get to that all on her own.

 

“Seungcheolie, dear!” the woman exclaimed, happy to see her son. “I swear you keep growing each time I see you.” she joked.

 

He sighed fondly before shaking his head slightly. “No, mom. I haven’t grown much since the last time we saw each other” he yawned.

 

“Are you sure?” she shot back, “I could have sworn you were shorter last week.”

 

He chuckled lightly, always finding her sense of deadpan humor funny. She preened at this, obviously pleased to make her son laugh.

 

“Anyhow,” she continued, making her way past him and into the living room. “I figured we could spend some time together today, since you have the day off.” 

 

Seungcheol raised an eyebrow at this, suspicious. “Oh? Why didn’t you call me beforehand? I would’ve showered and dressed.” He replied. 

 

The woman waved a dismissing hand at him, looking around the room. “Oh no, that’s fine. You could use some help cleaning this place up anyway, so get ready while I try to do… something about this mess in the meantime.” she wrinkled her nose, clearly displeased with how messy his apartment was.

 

Seungcheol shrugged. He didn’t think it was too messy, considering he had cleaned someday last week, but apparently it wasn’t clean enough.

“Well, suit yourself. I’ll be right out.” he said, making his way towards his bedroom to pick up some clean clothes. He’d need to shave as well he noted, scratching at his chin.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
  


Turns out that showering in clothes was not all that pleasant. A good idea perhaps, but it was far from pleasant. And it was heavy.

 

He’d eventually made it out of the shower alive, but there seemed to be yet another downside to the fake blood. It had left motherfucking stains on his skin. Great. Now Jihoon didn’t just look like a zombie, but a zombie with some kind of rash.

Well, he sighed. At least he felt clean again. 

 

He’d decided to at the very least try and call Soonyoung, even though the chances of him picking up where small.

 

Sure enough he was sent to voicemail. Now luckily, they were both pros at handling these kinds of situations, and had made sure that Soonyoung shared his location through a group chat so that he could be found and retrieved.

 

“What the fuck…” he mumbled as he saw where the idiot currently was. The pin pointed to Soonyoung’s old house. Which he moved out of. Three years ago.

 

Jihoon felt the strong urge to facepalm, however considering the bruise on his forehead from God knows what, he decided that it wouldn’t be worth it. He was suffering enough as it was. 

 

He begrudgingly decided to retrieve his lost friend before eating. They could stop at some café or something later, but for now he had to make sure Soonyoung wasn’t on the rooftop on the verge of falling down. (Which again, would not surprise him)

  
  
  
  


Luckily enough for poor, hungover Jihoon, Soonyoung’s old house was not located all that far away. He got there in a 15 minute walk, making sure that the pin hadn’t moved while on his way there.

 

Once he arrived he tried to figure out how he could possibly waltz right into somebody’s backyard without seeming like a suspicious person. He gave up thinking quite quickly and just walked right in. He did decide to head straight towards the back though, and not dawdle around in front of the windows.

 

It wasn’t hard to spot the fool once there. Soonyoung laid passed out on the trampoline, looking like a little kid playing dress up in his ridiculous vampire outfit.

 

Deciding to get some blackmail material, he snapped some photos before moving closer. He considered getting onto the trampoline and start to jump, but he didn’t want to worsen his dizziness. (nor alert the family living here) Instead, he put his phone’s volume way up before playing Despacito directly into Soonyoung’s ear. 

 

Said man would’ve screamed had it not been for Jihoon’s hand clasped tightly around his mouth, effectively muffling any sound he made. He did however rip himself free, and in the process, toppled over down onto the ground.

 

Soonyoung thought for sure that he was being murdered when he saw such hateful eyes. It took him a couple of stunned seconds before he realized it was actually Jihoon. Just a very, very angry Jihoon. He gulped, suddenly quite afraid for his life.

 

“Jihoonie…” his voice cracked, and he tried sending a convincing smile his way, “Hahahaha, isn’t it crazy how pigeons can do simple math?” 

_ dammit _ this always happened when he was nervous.

 

Jihoon just stared at the man. He felt like a spy about to shoot his victim in the head.

He stalked closer and crouched down, “Guess who owes me his life.” he whispered tauntingly.

 

Soonyoung’s eyes were wider than they’d ever been before. He had truly lost the game. He had no more pigeon facts he could bring up to distract the other, and it didn’t help that he was disoriented as fuck.

 

“No… please.” Soonyoung swallowed dryly. “I beg of you, Jihoon! Have mercy!” he whimpered.

 

“We’ll see.” Jihoon hummed. “I had to go through some pretty embarrassing stuff, and you’re going to pay for it.” he said, “We’re going to a café right now though. And we’ll start with you paying for that.”

 

Soonyoung scrambled to his knees and took one of Jihoon’s hands in between his own. “Yes sir! I won’t ever forget this, sir!” he exclaimed, happy that he at the very least managed to postpone his doom.

 

Jihoon helped his friend up, because despite it all, he’s not heartless, and Soonyoung does look similar to how Jihoon did when he woke up. 

 

They were still going to the café right away though. He wasn’t completely heartless, but he wasn’t kind enough to let the other shower beforehand. He would walk around in his shame, let people know what he had done the night before. That would be punishment enough for now, Jihoon deemed.

 

Now to get the hell out of this backyard before someone called the cops. He did not want to see that Seungcheol guy again.

 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
  


Seungcheol got out of the shower feeling significantly more alive. He even looked forward to going outside for a bit. Fall always had been his favourite season.

Stepping out of the bathroom after dressing, he was met with the sight of a sparkling clean living room. He couldn’t help but gape at his mother. She met his eyes from where she was relaxing on the sofa and raised an eyebrow.

 

“You do know I have about 30 years worth of stress cleaning skills, right?” she said, plucking at her nails. “How do you think the house always got so clean so fast before our guests arrived, dear?”

 

He snapped his mouth shut, whispering ‘acknowledged’, before he closed the bathroom door and made his way to the couch.

 

“What’d you sit down for? We’re leaving.” Mrs. Choi said as soon as his behind touched the fabric of the couch.

 

He groaned a bit in annoyance. “What, like this exact moment?” he said, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Yes. Chop chop!” she answered, clapping her hands. The woman was fast, she’d already made it to the front door and was buttoning her coat.

 

Seungcheol let out a sigh. “Where are we even going?” he muttered while heaving himself up.

 

She hummed slightly, “Well, I was thinking we could just go to a café for starters. After that we could take a walk, go shopping, or anything you like!” she replied cheerfully, putting her shoes on. “I’m leaning more towards shopping by the way, darling. You need some new clothes.” she added before he even had a chance to answer.

 

Offended, he looked down at his choice of outfit. A pair of light blue jeans and a simple white t-shirt with a cardigan thrown on top. “What’s wrong with my outfit?” he demanded.

 

“Honey, nothing’s wrong with it, but you need some classier clothes as well. Perhaps some button downs and slacks?” she suggested, studying his clothes. 

 

Seungcheol grabbed his keys from the counter and opened the door. “Yeah, and when will I ever wear that?” he asked, not really wanting an answer “All I do is work, mom. There are no occasions where I would have to wear anything fancier than my uniform.”

 

He received a disapproving glance from the woman. “First of all, it’s not about the occasion. You could dress up just for the heck of it.” she started, “Secondly, this is exactly why I keep nagging you to find someone, go on dates. Do things!”

 

“Mom,” he sighed, “we’ve talked about this. I’m not in the mood for dates right now, I need to focus on work.” he countered.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. But honestly, Seungcheol, you’re 26. You need to find someone before you turn out like your cousin.” There was nothing wrong with his cousin, she just didn’t want children, and was single at 37.

 

He sighed. He knew that she wanted grandchildren, and he knew that she wanted the best for him. But he was getting tired of the nagging, and he seriously considered just picking some random person up sometimes, just so she’d shut up about it.

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
  


Weirdly enough, Soonyoung didn’t seem to care all that much that he was walking around in a full on vampire costume, probably reeking of alcohol and sweat. He was happy enough to still be alive at this point.

 

They’d reached a café smoothly enough, Soonyoung didn’t even feel ill, just disoriented,(lucky bastard) so there were no vomit pauses.

 

Jihoon currently sat nursing a black coffee and some fancy sandwich. (he’ll admit that he choose the most expensive one out of pettiness) He was in the middle of cursing Soonyoung out (softly, he didn’t want to make a scene) while telling him everything he could remember from the police encounter.

 

“I’m telling you, Soonyoung. I probably looked like a mess and I scared a poor policeman half to death.” he sighed, taking a sip of his coffee. “And I even-

 

“You rhymed.” Soonyoung interrupted.

 

“I- yeah but, seriously?” Jihoon said, blinking. “could you listen for once in your life?” 

 

Soonyoung looked confused. “Yeah, no the fact that I pointed the rhyming out kinda shows that I was listening.” he concluded, oddly proud of himself.

 

Jihoon let out a long sigh before gathering his wits again. “ _ Anyways _ , I have some memory of the guy practically carrying me, and it was humiliating! Now I’m gonna  _ have _ to live a legal life! What if I met him again?” he grimaced. “No. I’ll have to move, and you’re gonna pay the rent.” he finished

 

“Right, ok. I just have one question though.” Soonyoung said, raising his hand slightly.

 

“Yes, go ahead.” Jihoon granted, taking a bite out of his ridiculous sandwich.

 

“Was he hot?”

 

Slightly choking on the bite, he coughed a couple of times before taking a deep breath.

“Soonyoung. I knew you were dumb, but that question was beneath you.” the younger said, glaring slightly.

 

The elder raised his hands while his eyebrows shot upward.

“I’m just saying, it kinda sounds like a drama, man.”

 

Jihoon glared some more, adding a couple of punishments to the never ending list.

 

“Even if he was, I wouldn’t tell you-” he faltered slightly, seeing a slightly familiar face walk in.

 

_ Oh fuck no.  _ This was not about to happen. He quickly hunched his shoulders and looked down, hiding his face. Soonyoung just stared at him, confused as to why he suddenly cut himself of. He turned around to see if anything out of the usual had happened. Seeing none, he concluded that his friend must have some kind of diagnosis.

 

“Jihoon? Seriously what happened?” he whispered, a bit worried. He got an answer that he didn’t quite catch, and asked the younger to repeat.

“That’s the cop…” He whispered, obviously trying to keep quiet and out of sight. 

 

Soonyoung sneakily glanced back again. The only one fitting Jihoon’s description stood with an older woman by the counter. “ _ That’s  _ the cop?” he said, slightly too loudly.

 

Jihoon shot him a panicked glance, but it was too late. The guy looked over at the outburst and seeing Jihoon, his face flickered with recognition. With every step he took closer, Jihoon sunk a bit more into his chair. He wished that the chair and he could just become one. Why did he have to suffer like this. He was a decent person, he payed his taxes. God had no reason to strike like this.

 

“Hey, little guy.” the cop grinned, stopping in front of their table. Jihoon was sure that you could fry an egg on his face by now. He glared up at the other, obviously uncomfortable.

 

“...Hi.” he greeted, eventually. Seungcheol just chuckled, “No blood today?” he questioned. 

Receiving another, more intense glare, he decided to introduce himself to his… friend.

 

“What the fuck.” he blurted “Hoshi?”

 

Soonyoung gave a slightly baffled but huge grin and made a show of getting up and hugging the guy.

 

At this point Jihoon was very confused, and slightly upset. (his standard mood, really)

“You know each other?” he demanded, furrowing his brows.

 

Soonyoung smiled and nodded, sitting down again. “We used to hang out when we were kids, and recently we started gaming together!” he replied. 

 

Seungcheol put two and two together and realized that obviously, Soonyoung was involved the night before.

 

“Oh..” he breathed in realization, “You’re the bad friend that ditched Jihoon last night, right?” feeling a smile take over his face.

 

Soonyoung looked betrayed. “Bad friend? Really Jihoon?” he said, shaking his head. “But yes, that would be me.” he directed at Seungcheol with a smile, quickly getting over jibe.

 

Jihoon stood up, shrugging his coat back on. “I’m leaving.” he stated. 

 

“What? No, Jihoon.” Soonyoung exclaimed, confused.

 

Seungcheol watched in amusement, shaking his head. “It’s fine, I also need to go actually. If you’d like, I could help you get home again, Jihoon?” he teased, a glint in his eyes.

 

Jihoon paused. “On second thought, I should probably finish this bread.” He deadpanned, making Seungcheol laugh.

 

“Alright, cutie. Have a good time. See ya!” he winked, turning his back on the two, and walking away. 

 

Soonyoung just smirked knowingly, while Jihoon had a mental breakdown. How dare Seungcheol just waltz in here, embarrass him,  _ and  _ flirt with him? He really just wanted to hide underneath a rock for all of eternity. 

 

He decided to not actually finish the sandwich, just so that Soonyoung would have to pay for something he didn’t even finish half off.

Payback, bitch.


	3. Chapter 3

Ever since encountering Seungcheol again, Soonyoung seemed to have made it his life's mission to make sure that Jihoon “accidently” ran into him everywhere. 

 

In the grocery store? Yes. In the park? You bet. The public library? Absolutely. He hadn’t quite figured out how Soonyoung did it yet, but when he did, boy was he in for it.

 

Now, while meeting Seungcheol was less awkward each time it happened, it made Jihoon a tad bit more angry each time. He didn’t have time for this damn it, he was a college student. He had papers to write, coffee to drink, and breakdowns to have. He didn’t have time for the lingering embarrassment that came with the meetings. 

 

He knew Seungcheol had gotten over it, he’d even stopped teasing him about it, but Jihoon wouldn’t forget,  _ couldn’t _ forget. Being a drunk, bloody mess in front of a guy he apparently had to meet regularly wasn’t the best thing he’d ever accomplished.

 

Sighing, he tuned back into reality, trying to listen to what Seungkwan had to say. It had been a while since he’d met the younger, and although he would never admit it, he had missed him a bit. Seungkwan had gone back to Jeju over break, and hadn’t been able to join them during the fateful night when he met Seungcheol. 

 

“... and then he threw the candy on me! Can you believe kids these days?” Seungkwan exclaimed, finally done with the story. Before he could move on to the next one, Jihoon decided to interrupt.

 

“Yeah, that’s… amazing, Seungkwan.” He said, stretching his back. Long days at the library weren’t really good for your posture. Not that Jihoon cared particularly much about posture, but it hurt like a bitch.

 

“I’m really glad to hear about your… adventures in Jeju, but I kind of  _ need  _ to study.” He began, “We’ve been here for… 5 hours now, and I’ve done about one page’s worth of reviewing.” 

 

Seungkwan shot him a look that screamed diva. And ignoring his need to study completely, he instead proceeded to ask about Jihoon’s break.

 

Jihoon shot him a warning look, which again, went ignored. 

“I heard some interesting things from Soonyoung-hyung.” he started, a sparkle in his eyes. “He said that you met a hot police officer, and that you guys have a thing now.” 

 

“Well he obviously left out a couple of details.” Jihoon deadpanned. “Starting with one: We don’t have a thing. Two, I was shitfaced drunk. And finally, three, he’s not  _ that _ hot.” he answered steadily.

 

Seungkwan hummed teasingly. “Oh really? Because he showed me a picture of him, and he seemed  _ exactly _ like your type.” the younger grinned.

 

“What?” Jihoon sputtered, “And what exactly  _ is _ my type then, Seungkwan?” He dared, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Oh, you know. Tall, dark and handsome. Pretty eyes, big hands, an aura of dominance. In other words, the exact copy of this Seungcheol guy.” Seungkwan sang, knowing that the shorter had a soft spot for him, and that he wouldn’t hurt him the way he hurt Soonyoung.

 

He did receive a deadly stare though, making him shiver slightly. 

 

“Well, ok, maybe he was kind of hot, but that doesn’t mean that we have a thing, or that I’m interested for that matter.” Jihoon snorted, reaching for his coffee and taking a sip.

 

“Dude,” Seungkwan stared at him like he’d grown another head. “You can’t tell me you’re not interested in your  _ ideal guy  _ when he flirts with you and you haven’t gotten dick in so long.” He said, not an ounce of shame in him.

 

At that, Jihoon spluttered. He considered spitting the coffee out onto the younger, but managed to swallow. (not a pun) 

 

He quickly glanced around, wondering if anyone had heard their conversation. Bending over the table a bit to get closer to Seungkwan, he whispered, “If you don’t stop talking, I’ll cut  _ your _ dick off and add it to my collection.” 

 

He saw Seungkwan pale a bit, and after opening and closing his mouth for a few seconds, he seemed to think better of it, and snapped it shut. Satisfied, Jihoon leaned back, and without thinking twice, he put his headphones back in, and picked his pen back up, blasting music to drown out any attempts at conversation.

  
  


____________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
  
  


Jihoon didn’t leave the library for another three hours. He realized eventually that it was actually dark out, and he had to get back to his dorm. The problem? Jihoon hated walking in the dark. He wasn’t necessarily scared of it, but he didn’t want to give any serial killer out there an extra target. 

 

Seungkwan had left shortly after Jihoon had put his headphones back in, blowing a kiss at the elder before he left which went by ignored. (like many other things)

 

Sighing, the small man reached for his phone, thinking about who he could call. He wanted to force someone to come walk him back, but he didn’t have many options it seemed. Figures, the life of an antisocial motherfucker like him wasn’t always so glorious.

 

His roommate Wonwoo wasn’t very likely to help. He’s probably too busy doing some weird shit like taking care of plants or something. Dismissing Wonwoo, he kept scrolling through his admittedly short list of contacts. He considered calling Amy, she was probably the nicest amongst his friends, which was why he didn’t want to bother her. She’d probably drop whatever she was doing to come walk the younger back to his dorm, but he actually felt guilty about dragging her away from what could possibly be important. 

 

Again, dismissing her, he came to a stop before Soonyoung’s name. He could call Soonyoung, he still owed him from the halloween spectacle, and he wasn’t likely to be doing anything important.

 

He made up his mind, quickly dialing the other. 

 

_ “Neaga Hosh!” _ was the nice greeting he received.

 

Not wasting any time, he quickly stated his business. “Soonyoung, come meet me at the library. I want company back to the dorms.” 

 

_ “I thought you were with Seungkwan?”  _

 

Pinching the bridge of his nose he answered, “No, he left like three hours ago. You owe me, so you’re the lucky one who gets to meet me.”

 

_ “Yeah, right, I mean I can do that, but when are you gonna let the halloween thing go? I’ve been running errands for you for weeks now!” _ Soonyoung exclaimed. 

 

“And you’ll probably be running them til christmas.” Jihoon answered with a little grin. “Now get over here before they throw me out.”

 

_ “Yeah okay, just give me like 15 minutes or something. I’ll text you when I’m outside.” _

 

Confirming that he’d actually see the text, he hung up, starting to slowly pack his things away. He realized he was low on battery, and decided to not play a game like he’d planned to. He just hoped that Soonyoung would hurry up, he wasn’t kidding when he said they might throw him out. The old lady at the counter looked quite disgruntled the last time Jihoon saw her. 

  
  


_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
  


Soonyoung grinned to himself. He was a genius really. His plan might backfire later, but he was tired, and he really didn’t want to go outside at the moment. He was watching anime for goodness sake, it was important to him.

 

Calling the police station for this might be bad, so instead he called Seungcheol directly, praying that he was on duty.

 

_ “... Soonyoung? I told you not to call when I’m working, didn’t I?” _ Seungcheol said through the phone, confused as to why the younger would call him at this hour.

 

“Yo! My bro, my friend, the one and only in my heart!” he began. Hearing a sigh through the phone, he knew he didn’t have to continue. 

 

_ “What do you want?” _

 

He smiled mischievously. “Well, you see, I know you have  _ such  _ a kind heart, hyung, and I’m currently stuck in bed.” he started, “Could you perhaps run a quick errand for your old pal?”

 

A pause.  _ “Soonyoung, I’m working. I can’t just run to the store to buy ice cream in the middle of my shift.” _

 

Giggling, Soonyoung continued. “It would be something acceptable as a police officer, man. You’ve made it clear that you don’t like buying me food.”

 

_ “What then?” _ Seungcheol sighed.  _ “It needs to be something that a cop would normally do.” _

 

“I need you to help Jihoon get home.” He answered, not missing a beat.

 

The line went silent for a moment. _ “Excuse me?” _

 

“You heard me.”

 

_ “Yeah, I did… But could you maybe, I don’t know, elaborate?”  _ the elder asked, still a bit confused.

 

Soonyoung hummed a bit. “He’s at the library, and he needs someone to walk him home since he’s a bit scared of the dark. I figured I’d do you a solid and fix a date for you.” he half-joked. He was a little bit serious, he did like playing matchmaker, but Seungcheol didn’t need to know that.

 

_ “What? Soonyoung that’s… Really inappropriate.” _

 

“What, why? He might not look it, but he is legal you know.”

 

A sigh resounded through the phone.  _ “That’s not what i meant. I  _ could _ hypothetically walk him back, but what do I get out of it?”  _

 

“A sweet walk with the man of your dreams.” Soonyoung deadpanned.

 

_ “Already been there, done that I’m afraid. We had i nice romantic walk a few weeks ago.”  _ Seungcheol said, talking about when they’d met.

 

Soonyoung sighed, “Please, hyung? I’ll treat you to a meal or something, just please do this for me?” he pleaded.

 

_ “... Alright.”  _ He agreed with a sigh, _ “But I’m holding you to that!”  _

 

“Yes!” Soonyoung exclaimed. “He’s at the public library, and he’s expecting you in about… 7 minutes!” he cheerfully added. “I’ll send him a text saying that there was a bit of a delay. If he’s not already at the entrance when you get there, call me and I’ll tell him to go outside.”

 

Seungcheol agreed, already regretting it a bit, and hung up.

 

Soonyoung sat in the dark, pleased with himself. He knew that he would probably face hell for this, but it was worth it. He unpaused his anime and burrowed deeper into the blankets after texting Jihoon.

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
  


In retrospect, asking Soonyoung to come had been a mistake. Jihoon was, in fact thrown out of the library, (he was actually kindly asked to leave, but same difference) and soon afterwards, he got a text saying that Soonyoung would probably be a few minutes late. He was tired of this crap. Could life actually get any worse? 

 

Jihoon sat down on the steps, cursing his luck.

 

When he heard footsteps he immediately looked up, ready to fight his friend for having the audacity to be late. 

 

Now, another one for the books; Don’t ever ask the universe if it could get any worse, kids. It will.

 

In front of him stood  _ Seungcheol  _ in all of his police officer glory. Now, while it’s true that Jihoon had seen Seungcheol a couple of times since that night, he hadn’t actually seen him in his uniform since then, and it was causing some pretty severe flashbacks.

 

Realizing that he had been halfway ready to punch the other, Jihoon slowly lowered his arm, feeling a bit sheepish.

 

Clearing his throat quickly, he asked, “Are you stalking me?”

 

Seungcheol just stared at him. “Jihoon, I’m a police officer. I’m the one you go to when people stalk you.”

 

“But you’re not a police officer 24/7.” Jihoon countered. “I’ve seen you out of the uniform, and frankly, you’ve been acting pretty suspiciously.”

 

“Oh, and what are you going to do about it? Call the cops?” the taller rolled his eyes, not taking any shit.

 

Jihoon scowled at the elder. “Seriously, why are you here? As far as I know, there are no murders going on around here.” he gestured towards the completely empty surroundings. 

 

“I’m here on behalf of Soonyoung. He was shot in the leg on his way here, and his dying wish was for me to walk you home.” Seungcheol deadpanned.

 

Jihoon paused. “Yeah, no first of all, the leg isn’t a vital organ, you wouldn’t die from being shot there. Secondly, why would you leave a wounded and dying person behind to walk someone home? I mean, I’m not a cop, but that seems pretty dumb.” 

 

“I told you, it was his dying wish. Now come on, I have other things to do.”

 

Reluctantly, Jihoon started to walk, side eyeing the other all the while.

 

After a moment of silence, Seungcheol broke it. “You know, I never pegged you to be afraid of the dark.” he said, smirking a bit.

 

Jihoon whipped his head around, almost spraining his neck. “I’m not, you asshole!” he glared. “I just don’t want to be murdered.”

 

“Fair enough.” Seungcheol said, still with that damn smirk on his face. “For such a tiny guy you sure have a lot of rage pent up.” He mused.

 

“I’m made entirely of of rage and coffee at this point.” Jihoon answered without missing a beat. He hated being called short or tiny, but Seungcheol didn’t need to know that. He was a firm believer in not giving out your weaknesses to others so easily. Although it was difficult to not just punch the sucker in the jaw, he didn’t want to be charged with offense against police officer.

 

Slightly disappointed in not getting a reaction out of the younger, he topped it up a notch. “Really? I’d say it’s one or the other, I don’t think both the rage and the coffee would fit.”

 

Jihoon felt his eyebrow twitch, but (barely) kept his cool. “You’re doing it on purpose.” he stated.

 

Seungcheol held back a grin. “Doing what?” he blinked innocently.

 

Jihoon grabbed a hold of Seungcheol’s uniform to bring him down to eye level. Surprised, Seungcheol stumbled a bit.

 

“You’re teasing me about my height. I don’t appreciate it. One more comment, and I’ll castrate you.” Jihoon hissed. Seungcheol was surprised, but not too concerned, considering Jihoon probably wasn’t trained in fighting like he was. 

 

Deciding to be a bit cheeky, Seungcheol leaned in as if to kiss the other making Jihoon freeze, and in the process, loosen his grip on Seungcheol’s uniform. Seungcheol used this to his advantage, and simply leaned back, Jihoon’s arm falling down like a limp noodle. 

 

Seungcheol backed away, a teasing grin on his face. It took the younger a couple of moments to react, but when he did, he turned beet red. Due to embarrassment or anger, Seungcheol would never know.

 

“You… You fucking… molester!” he shouted, obviously flustered.

 

Seungcheol acted nonchalant, continuing to walk. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t do anything, did I?” he teased. 

 

Jihoon didn’t give him a response, angrily stomping ahead of him.  

_ Cute _ . Seungcheol thought.

 

The elder continued walking, a few paces behind the shorter. Eventually he caught up due to his longer legs. He was about to joke about it when he caught a glimpse of how genuinely upset Jihoon looked.

 

“Hey, you know I was just teasing you, right?” He started, feeling a bit guilty. “Are you upset? I’m sorry, I won’t do it again if it bothered you.” 

 

Jihoon sighed, deflating like a balloon. “I’m not upset… I just… There are some things on my mind.”  _ How to kill his friend without it seeming like a murder _ , for example.

 

He wasn’t really upset with Seungcheol, but that stunt  _ had  _ brought up some bad memories of his highschool days. He was quite shy back then, and being shy coupled with small? Not a good combo. He was picked on quite a lot, and he was, in fact, forcefully kissed by some guy once. He wasn’t traumatized by it or anything, but he didn’t like feeling the way he did back then.

 

Deciding to let the thought go, he realized that they’d arrived at the dorm grounds. 

Turning towards Seungcheol, he was prepared to force a thank you out, but he was interrupted.

 

“I have a question.” Seungcheol said. At Jihoon’s raised eyebrow, he continued. “Can I have your number? I know it’s a bit weird, and even if you don’t want it to, you know, be like that, I’d still like to be friends, you know? I was going to ask you the other day at the park, but then-” he was cut of by Jihoon looking at him like he grew another head right in front of him. 

 

“What the fuck?” the shorter said. “You’re like… A completely different person when you ramble.” he finished in awe.

 

Seungcheol raised an eyebrow. “I... What? Is that a yes?” 

 

“Uh… Sure…” the younger affirmed, holding his hand out.

 

Handing the younger his phone after a beat, he internally fist bumped himself while waiting for the other to finish.

 

When he did, he shot Jihoon the brightest smile he could, and put his phone back into his pocket. “Thanks!” he beamed, happy as ever.

 

A bit flustered at the genuine happiness he was faced with, Jihoon just waved his hand and promptly turned around to get to his dorm. He didn’t have to see the other to hear the laugh he let out. 

 

“Bye, cutie! I’ll call you!” he laughed.

 

Feeling his face burn, Jihoon just flipped the other off before opening the front door to the building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not super satisfied with this one tbh, but i wanted to finish it so i didn't just leave it unfinished  
> sry for coups being so,,, out of character right at the end. idk why i made him so happy, i guess he's just that happy to have jihoon's number??? idk it's a bit weird, but we'll roll with it
> 
> please tell me if you have any ideas, i think i have an idea of where i want this to go, but i could use some help along the way lmao <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these keep taking longer and longer smh
> 
> anyways here it is!! I have a clear plan for where i want this to go now, and it'll probably be done in like 2-3 more chapters!

Seungcheol was relaxing in front of his TV when he got a call. Not really feeling like getting up to get his phone, he ignored it, deciding to lie and tell whoever it was that he was in the shower or something when he called them back.

 

When it stopped ringing, he relaxed again, focusing on the news. Huh, it might snow during the night. It  _ was _ November, so it wasn’t to surprising, but snow this early never really stayed, and it always caused trouble when melting.

Not even a minute after, his phone started ringing again. He sighed, deeming it important enough to get up for. When he saw his mother’s ID, he gulped, quickly saying a prayer before answering the phone.

 

He barely got a greeting out before his mom started to ramble. He couldn’t catch all that much, but he heard something about a marriage, which alarmed him, thinking that Mrs. Choi had finally lost it and set him up for an arranged marriage.

 

“Whoa, whoa, can you slow down? I didn’t catch that.” he squeaked.

 

He heard her take a deep breath, obviously annoyed at having to repeat herself.  _ “You’re brother is getting married!” _ she managed before squealing, delighted.

 

A pause. “Wait, what?” Seungcheol exclaimed, “Since when?”

 

_ “Since an hour ago! He just called me! He said he proposed to Jihyo on the cruise they’re at, isn’t that romantic?” _ She sighed, ever the romantic.

 

Feeling a bit overwhelmed, but happy for his brother, he smiled. “Oh my God, yeah that’s great! When’s the wedding?” He’d always liked Jihyo, she was outgoing and confident, which complimented his brother’s more introverted self in a nice way.

 

_ “They’re aiming for christmas! You know how they love the whole ‘winter-wonderland’ theme!”  _

 

He could tell that his mother was probably on the verge of tearing up, and he felt a warmth spread through his chest. The proposal had been a long time coming. He’d had to listen to both of the two rant to him several times about how they wanted to propose, but couldn’t muster up the courage to. He was glad that they finally took the big step, he truly believed that what they shared was true love.

 

“I’m so happy for them, mom. I can’t believe they didn’t call me directly though…” he said, mocking a disappointed sigh.

 

_ “Trust me honey, they were about to, but I think I beat them to it.” _

 

He let out a little chuckle at his mother’s antics, shaking his head.

 

_ “So… That brings us to another problem.”  _ She said ominuously.

 

Seungcheol immediately lost the smile, taking on a nervous grimace instead.

_ Please don’t bring up a date, please don’t bring up a date… _

 

 _“There’s the matter of a date, you see.”_ Damn it. 

_ “But you don’t have to worry, dear! I have a couple of suggestions for you.”  _ The woman started, “ _ Do you remember Mrs. Kim? Well, her daughter Soonyoung would be a pretty good match, don’t you think? There’s also Jihyo’s nice friend, Nayeon! Oh and- _

 

“Yeah! That’s great mom, but I actually, uh, have a date tomorrow!” he lied, not being able to take his mother’s rambling anymore.

 

That shut her up.  _ “...Oh.”  _ she said after a beat.  _ “That’s amazing, honey! Who is it?”  _ she asked eagerly, always the nosy one.

 

“Uh… I’m not too sure, it’s a blind date.” He said quickly, feeling a cold sweat break out at lying so blatantly. 

 

_ “Oh, okay! You’ll have to tell me how it went! Otherwise I’ll have to step in.”  _ She didn’t phrase it as a threat, but that’s the way it sounded to Seungcheol’s ears. He gulped.

 

“Yeah, yeah. Of course! I’ll call you tomorrow, I gotta go now though. You know, I have a shift tomorrow.” That part wasn’t a lie, and he didn’t look forward to it. He never liked patrolling in snow.

 

_ “Of course, I’ll let you go to sleep. Don’t forget to send your brother and Jihyo your best wishes, darling! Have a good night!” _ she chattered.

 

“Yeah, you too mom.” he said, hanging up. 

 

Letting out a sigh, he knew he was in deep shit.

 

___________________________________________________________________________

  
  


Mingyu was surprised to have his hands grabbed first thing when he walked into the station.

 

“Mingyu! I need you to date me!” Seungcheol blurted out.

 

Confused, the younger slowly slunk his hands out of Seungcheol’s grip, looking at the other like he was crazy.

 

“...No.” was the simple response Seungcheol was given. 

 

Letting out a sigh, he pleaded. “Please? Pretty please? I need a date for my brother’s wedding, and if I don’t fix one myself, my mom will.”

 

“Whoa, first of all, you’re brother’s finally getting married? Holy shit, congrats to him.” he said, his eyes lighting up a bit. “And secondly, I’m pretty sure that would be suspicious, since I’ll probably be invited as well, and your mom already knows me.”

 

Seungcheol sputtered a bit. “Well, I don’t really have any other choice! Could you please help me out a little? I really don’t want to be forced on an awkward date with some poor girl I have no interest in being with.”

 

Mingyu sighed. “You still haven’t told her you’re gay?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“She thinks I’m bi, but that’s not the point.” the elder said, grabbing Mingyu’s hands again.

 

Mingyu recoiled a bit. It’s not that he didn’t want to help the other, but he kind of didn’t want to help the other.

 

“Man, I’m sorry, but you’re gonna have to find someone else.” he sighed, slipping his hands out of Seungcheol’s grip again.

 

“Why?” the elder whined. He would have done it! Maybe not for Mingyu, but still.

 

“I don’t want to.” The taller said simply. “Plus, as I already said, it would be weird. They know us well enough to know that we’d never date.”

 

Realizing the younger had a point, Seungcheol went over to his desk and dramatically dropped his head down onto it. Repeatedly. “I’ll never find anyone willing.” he muttered, mostly to himself.

 

“What about Soonyoung?” Mingyu asked, walking away towards the break room to grab some coffee.

 

Seungcheol made a face of disgust, and continued banging his head against his desk. Eventually he had to stop at the glares he received from his coworkers. He sighed, laying his head to the side and staring out the window. 

 

He could call Jihoon… The only problem was, he actually wanted to go on a date with him, and doing it this way seemed a bit… Cheap. Then again, Jihoon didn’t have to know that he had ulterior motives. But that felt like lying, and he didn’t want to start this off with a big lie, he’d seen enough dramas to know that that would be a dumb idea. 

 

He took out his phone with a sigh, scrolling through his contacts. He did have Jeonghan’s number, but he doubted that he’d say yes. 

 

Deciding to give it a shot anyways, he quickly sent a text. 

 

The response he got made it quite clear that Jeonghan was out. 

‘No way. I’d rather date your mom than you.’ it read. Curse his friends, no one was really there for him when he needed them.

 

Realizing that it was either Jihoon or Soonyoung, he decided to give Jihoon a shot. He could probably convince Soonyoung to go, but all uncomfortable matters aside, Soonyoung would probably cause a ruckus, and he wanted to keep this lowkey.

 

He couldn’t very well call Jihoon right now though, recalling that the younger probably had classes, and that he himself had actual work to do. Sighing, he pulled himself together, praying that Jihoon would say yes when he called.

 

___________________________________________________________________________

  
  
  
  


Getting home from a long day of classes and snowfall, Jihoon was faced with Wonwoo attempting to do… Yoga? He couldn’t actually tell, but it looked painful, so he assumed it was yoga.

 

Deciding not to even question the other, he just sighed, unwrapping his scarf and losing his coat and boots before making his way to his bed.

 

The dorm was a mess, and he probably had to take the initiative to clean, but with all the papers he had due, he hadn’t had the time. He probably wouldn’t have the time until christmas break really.

 

He didn’t plan on going back home. It was too far, and he didn’t want to see his homophobic aunt again. He missed his cousins a bit though, and his dad, but he wasn’t made of money, and neither were they. He couldn’t afford to go home over break. He’d have to settle for a phone call and some decorating right here at the dorm.

 

Feeling (and hearing) his stomach growl, he sighed before heaving himself up, almost slipping on a piece of paper by the side of his bed. Yeah he probably had to clean sooner than christmas if he expected to make it that far.

 

Keeping an eye out for more trash he could potentially slip on, he made his way to the small kitchen. Opening the fridge was a disappointing experience. A few almost empty cartons of milk, a couple of boxes of leftovers that he didn’t trust, and a half eaten chocolate bar. He silently closed the fridge again, opting for the cupboard instead. Instant noodles (his best friend), spaghetti, some cereal and a few granola bars were what awaited him.

 

He wasn’t stupid, he knew he had to go shopping, but looking out the window, he didn’t feel very compelled. His bank account didn’t feel very compelled either.

“Wonwoo, wanna go shopping for something edible?” he shouted.

 

“No thanks, I ate with Jun earlier.” the taller answered, like the fact that he wasn’t currently hungry mattered since they wouldn’t have anything to eat later anyways.

 

Shaking his head, he was about to tell the other off when he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. Seeing an unknown number, he was about to reject it when he realized that it might be Seungcheol. Suddenly feeling very unready to speak, he hesitated before deciding that if he didn’t pick up now, Seungcheol might not call back.

 

Quickly hitting accept and bringing his phone to his ear, he started pacing. 

“Hello?”

 

_ “Hi, Jihoon. It’s Seungcheol. What’s up?” _ the other asked through the phone.

 

Running a hand through his hair and feeling way too nervous about a simple phone call, he answered, “Not much, cursing my roommate and our inability to buy food.” he said casually.

 

Seungcheol chuckled a little.  _ “That’s nice. Uh… I kind of have a favor to ask?”  _

 

Feeling a bit more alert (like his anxious ass wasn’t already), Jihoon paused in his pacing. 

“What?”

 

_ “Uhm, ok so, my brother’s getting married, and my mom is really serious about me finding a date for the wedding, and if I don’t find one myself, she’ll set me up with someone. I don’t think I have to tell you that that wouldn’t be nice at all.”  _ the elder rambled nervously.

 

_ “And I’ve asked everyone, but literally no one will help me out. So… Jihoon will you please be my date for my brother’s wedding?” _ he asked tentatively.

 

Feeling his heart race and his cheeks warm, he tried to calm down before presenting the other with an answer.

 

Clearing his throat, “I see… And what do I get out of it?”  _ Always play hard to get. _

 

A pause.  _ “Huh? Uhm, I don’t know.” _ Seungcheol answered honestly.  _ “What  _ do _ you want?” _

 

Feeling a bit more rational, Jihoon paused for a bit, considering. “How about you come with me to the store and pay for the groceries?” He proposed, half joking. He kind of needed the help, not gonna lie, but he was prepared to laugh and tell the elder that he was joking, just in case it seemed too weird.

 

_ “Yeah, sure!” _ the other easily agreed. “ _ Are you serious though? You’ll actually do this if I just buy you some groceries?”  _

 

Feeling a bit shocked, and also feeling his stomach growl again, he quickly affirmed the fact. “Hell yeah. I’ll go to any wedding if you buy me food.”

 

Letting out a startled laugh, Seungcheol continued.  _ “Alright, thank you so much Jihoonie, you’re a lifesaver honestly. When do you need the groceries?” _

 

“In like two hours maximum. I’m dying.” Jihoon deadpanned.

 

_ “Right,” _ Seungcheol laughed.  _ “I’ll pick you up in like forty minutes, then? I’d like to change out of my uniform first.” _

 

Humming, trying to seem less nervous than he was, Jihoon confirmed that he’d be ready by then. Hanging up, he had to lean against the counter for breath. What had he gotten himself into? He didn’t even know when the wedding was, and more importantly, he didn’t know if this was an actual date, or just pretend. He could pretend all he liked that he wasn’t actually interested in the older man, but he couldn’t deny the way his heart jumped at the thought of this being an actual date.

 

Cursing himself for not asking, he decided that he’d figure it out. 

 

Walking towards the bathroom to freshen up, he stopped dead in his tracks, making Wonwoo look up from his position on the bed. (he’d gotten out of the yoga position, thankfully)

 

“Fuck! I don’t have a suit!” Jihoon exclaimed looking desperately at the other.

 

Not knowing why the smaller would need a suit, but not caring enough to ask, he raised an eyebrow. “I’d let you borrow mine, but…” Wonwoo said, the implications clear enough. He didn’t want to get hit, so he decided to not outright mention that the other was quite a bit too small for it. 

 

Jihoon just walked away, running a hand through his recently dyed hair. It was chestnut brown now.

 

Wonwoo shook his head. He put his headphones back in and resumed reading where he’d left of.

  
  


___________________________________________________________________________

  
  
  


Going shopping with Seungcheol wasn’t as awkward as Jihoon thought it would be. In fact, they acted like usual. (Usual being Seungcheol teasingly flirting while Jihoon shot mostly insults back)

 

They were strolling through an aisle full of cereal, Jihoon couldn’t seem to decide on which brand he wanted.

“Is the type of cereal really _ that _ important?” Seungcheol sighed, feeling a bit amused despite himself.

 

Jihoon turned to look the other firmly in the eyes. “Did you just question me? I’ll remind you, I’m doing this for you.” he huffed.

 

Seungcheol chuckled lightly, feeling his mood lift a bit at the thought of not having to go on any more awkward dates his mother set up. “Right, speaking of that,” He started, “The wedding will probably be around christmas. Are you free during break?”

 

Jihoon hummed, finally picking up a box of cereal. “I’m free, I won’t be going home, so I’ll even be in town.” he answered.

 

Frowning a bit at this, the elder couldn’t help but question why the other wouldn’t go home.

“I don’t want to seem rude, but why aren’t you? Going home I mean.”

 

“Can’t afford it. It’s kind of far, plus train tickets are more expensive during christmas.” He said distractedly, looking for the eggs. He wasn’t gonna lie, it felt a bit domestic, shopping for groceries with Seungcheol.

 

Seungcheol’s frown only deepened at that. “Can’t they buy you a ticket?”

 

Jihoon snickered a bit, “Yeah, right. They aren’t made out of money, Seungcheol. I’ll just visit them in a couple of months when someone’s birthday comes up.” he concluded.

 

Seungcheol hummed a bit. He had figured that Jihoon’s finances weren’t very good, considering the situation he was in right now, and also, duh, he was a college student, but he hadn’t known that his family wasn’t very well of either. Come to think of it, he didn’t actually know anything about Jihoon’s family, or Jihoon himself. He was a private person it seemed.

 

Jihoon seemed to be satisfied with the mountain of food he’d collected, and settled into line behind the other people. Seungcheol wasn’t too worried about paying, since he not only had a steady income, but also quite large savings stored up. Besides, if this was the price to pay for getting Jihoon to be his date for the wedding, he’d gladly pay it another five times.

 

It also didn’t hurt that he could rest safely tonight, knowing that the younger had food, and that he could get some actual nutritions into that small body of his.

 

Making their way back to the car however, was a different story. Jihoon seemed determined to make it in just one trip, stating that going twice was for losers. He also didn’t let Seungcheol carry any more than Jihoon. He’d probably be offended if Seungcheol did.

 

They managed to make it to the car without dropping anything and, god forbid, crack any eggs, and after they’d loaded the groceries in, they both heaved for breath.

“Did you really have to buy this much? How did you live before this?” Seungcheol exhaled, a bit concerned. If they had to buy this much food, there couldn’t be much in the fridge.

 

Jihoon leaned back, putting his hands on his hips. “If I had enough food to live prior to this I wouldn’t have claimed this as my prize.”

 

Staring at the younger, Seungcheol shook his head before making his way to the driver’s seat. Waiting for Jihoon to get in, he then backed out of the parking lot, driving back towards the dorms.

 

When they got there, they made quick work of getting all of the bags up. Jihoon really didn’t want to take two trips, it made him feel weak. Would the Rock take two trips? No. Therefore, Jihoon wouldn’t.

 

Wonwoo didn’t seem to care that some strange guy he’d never met before barged in unannounced. He glanced up, calculating, before glancing back down to continue whatever it was he was doing at the laptop. He did seem a bit happy about the never ending bags of groceries though. 

 

Opening the fridge up was frightening to Seungcheol. There was not a single edible item in there. He didn’t even glance at Jihoon before gingerly grabbing the things already in there to dispose of. And hey, who was Jihoon to stop him? He didn’t want those questionable items in there any more than the other, so he just started to unpack the bags.

 

When they were done, they stared in satisfaction at the fullness and multitude of colors. 

“If you ever get that low on food again, just call me. I’d rather pay for your groceries than have you starve.” Seungcheol said, still staring at the fridge.

 

Jihoon felt his heart skip at the very romantic line, and just nodded. They bid their farewells, before Jihoon quietly shut the front door with a soft sigh.

 

Man, did he have it bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if the end seems a bit rushed,,, it is. I had to finish it quickly before i start procrastinating for real lol hope it still feels ok!! ((do you see me sneaking in that fake-relationship au tho, I wanted to write something about that, and i kinda figured that this could work))


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY
> 
> i know it's been a month. I actually wrote like half of this chapter last month, but i couldn't get around to finishing it smh  
> school started, and i just started at a new school, i have really long days, and i haven't had the inspiration to finish it,,,  
> here's chapter 5 tho, so i'm getting somewhere. and i will (!!) finish this! 
> 
> anyways sry for taking so long, and i hope you enjoy this chapter!! <3

Seungcheol’s brother and his fiancé didn’t seem to waste any time, and the invitations for the wedding came soon enough. The wedding was set for December 27th, a nice time in Seungcheol’s opinion. He’d be able to kill two birds in one stone, and could give the pair both christmas presents and wedding gifts at the same time.

 

He’d also gotten a phone call from his mom, asking him how the date went, and making sure that he knew that she could always fix him one if things went south. He told her that the “date” (grocery shopping with Jihoon) went fine, and that he would be bringing Jihoon to the wedding. Thankfully, she got of his back, and he could go about his business. 

 

Seungcheol seemed to be working all the way up until christmas. Not too bad, considering he didn’t really have anything else to do. Working suited him fine, and he  _ did  _ like his job, so he was quite content. 

 

The problem was that he kept getting distracted with thoughts of the wedding and his date while working.

 

He kept thinking about how they’d get there, where they would be staying, how he should act with the other, and most importantly: if they should slow dance. Seungcheol didn’t know how to slow dance, and if he had to guess, he’d bet that Jihoon didn’t either. It couldn’t be too hard though, right? Just loop their arms around your neck, and put your hands on their hips while swaying in time to the music. He felt himself flush a bit at the thought of holding Jihoon’s hips. The direction his thoughts were going in made him feel like a pervert.

 

He shook his head for what had to be the fifth time this morning, trying to focus on the paperwork in front of him. Alas, his brain had already made up it’s mind, and chose instead to focus on the thought of where they would be sleeping. Because all inappropriate thoughts aside, he hadn’t figured that one out yet. They could stay at a hotel, Seungcheol didn’t mind paying, but would it be too awkward? Should he order a room with one or two beds? Would his mom visit the hotel room and find it weird if there were two beds?

 

He rubbed his face, frustrated. He might have to consult Jihoon about that one. Or his trusty friend Mingyu, since asking Jihoon directly might be a bit awkward.

 

Making up his mind, he got up and walked over to Mingyu’s desk. 

 

“Mingyu, I need your valuable insight on something.” he said.

 

Thinking it was about a case, Mingyu looked up. “What?”

 

Seungcheol sighed, leaning his hip against the other’s desk. “Should I book a hotel room for the wedding? And should I get one bed or two beds? Would it be to forward to share, or would it be too weird to not?” he mused. “Is this even a real date, or does he only see it as helping out a friend?”

 

Mingyu deadpanned him. “Why don’t you ask him?”

Seungcheol gaped at the younger, a bit offended. “I can’t just  _ ask _ him, Mingyu! That would make things totally awkward between us!”

 

“Seungcheol-hyung, with all due respect, you’re a fucking idiot.” he said, “Communication is key in a relationship, even a fake one, and you really don’t wanna fuck this up, right?” 

 

Seungcheol shook his head.

 

“Great, then text him or something, and you’ll figure it out together.” 

 

A pause. “You’re right. I’ll do it.”

  
  
  
  


He didn’t do it. 

 

Instead, he decided to go with his gut, book them a hotel room with a single bed, with the intention of telling Jihoon that if his mom came in and saw two beds it would be difficult to explain. He nodded, satisfied.

 

He realized that he’d need to go shopping soon. He needed a nice suit and some presents. With a start he realized that Jihoon might not have a suit, and that he might not have the money to pay for one. 

 

Now, Seungcheol didn’t necessarily  _ want _ to play the role of a sugar daddy, but he did drag Jihoon into this, and he figured that the smaller shouldn’t have to pay for it.

 

He quickly shot a text to Jihoon, needing to know if he had one, since they’d have to get his measurements otherwise. The wedding was a bit over a month away, and they needed to get the suit in time.

 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
  
  


Turns out there are downsides to working all the time. Seungcheol couldn’t go with Jihoon to the tailor. (yes, tailor. Seungcheol wanted to be fancy)

 

It probably worked in his favor though, since he undoubtedly would have been a bit… affected by the sight of Jihoon all suited up. He’d save that problem for the wedding, he decided.

 

Working also sped things up a lot. In next to no time it was time for the wedding. Seungcheol hadn’t had much contact with the younger, seeing how they both were incredibly busy.

He  _ did _ get the question of where they’d be staying though. He’d kept it vague, mentioning the hotel before quickly (and hopefully, smoothly) changing the subject. Seungcheol wasn’t really ready for the reaction he’d get when Jihoon found out there was just one bed.

 

He rubbed his temples, trying to chase away the headache that had formed the moment he woke up. The day of the wedding had arrived, and he had a 3 hour drive ahead of him. Needless to say he didn’t really look forward to it. Jihoon would be in the car with him, and he couldn’t figure out if it would be a blessing or a curse.

 

He had to get up at freaking 7am on a day off. His brother better be thankful and give him some extra cake or something. 

 

Getting ready had never been as nerve wracking for Seungcheol. He kept thinking about Jihoon’s opinion rather than his family’s, which in hindsight was pretty stupid considering this wasn’t the first time they were meeting, and the first time they  _ did _ meet, neither of them had looked very good.

 

Nevertheless, he kept changing up his hair and switching watches and colognes until he had about five minutes left before he had to be outside to pick Jihoon up.

 

On the way down to his car, he felt his phone vibrating. Thinking it was Jihoon, he quickly picked up without checking the caller ID.

 

“Yeah, I’m on my way, I promise! I had some problems with my… cat.”

 

A pause. “ _ Right, that’s uh, no. You don’t have a cat.”  _

 

And yeah, that’s not Jihoon. 

“Hyung?” he exclaimed, surprised, “Why the fuck are you calling me? Shouldn’t you be like, getting ready or whatever?” he asked, fiddling with his keys before getting in the car.

 

_ “I’m hurt. I thought my baby brother would be happy to hear my voice after so long.”  _ Seungcheol rolled his eyes at his brother, putting him on speaker before pulling out of the parking lot and racing towards Jihoon’s dorms.

 

“I didn’t want to hear your voice any more than I had to today.” he deadpanned.

 

“ _ Dude, I’m getting married today, be nice.” _

 

Seungcheol sighed, feeling stressed. “Ok, I’m kind of in a hurry right now, so what do you want?”

 

He heard his brother exhale amusedly. “ _ I wanna gossip.”  _

 

Seungcheol paused, furrowing his brows. “Wait, what?”

 

“ _ Listen,”  _ he started,  _ “surprisingly enough I haven’t had much contact with mom recently, but she did tell me that you have a date, which is fucking unbelievable by the way, and I want to know  _ all  _ about her.” _ he finished, grinning.

 

Seungcheol just sighed. “First of all, it’s a guy, second of all, you’ll meet him later, why are you so curious?”

 

_ “Because you actually having a date to the wedding is really fucking weird, and if it’s true I owe Jihyo 20 bucks.” _

 

“Well then I guess she’s about to be 20 dollars richer, because he’s real, and I’m actually just about to pick him up.” he answered, pulling up by the dorms. Noticing that Jihoon wasn’t there yet, he let out a breath, feeling relieved. He didn’t want Jihoon hearing these kinds of weird conversations.

 

He quickly sent Jihoon a text asking him where he was, pretending to be listening while his brother ranted about his nonexistent romance life. 

 

_ “...And what I really wanted to ask is how you guys met, because knowing you, it probably wasn’t a date.” _

 

Distractedly Seungcheol made up some bullshit about meeting at a party or something equally as unbelievable.

 

_ “Seungcheol, you don’t go to parties. But no matter! I will find out the truth eventually.” _

 

Sighing at his meddling brother, he spotted Jihoon making his way over to the car. Seungcheol kinda choked on air.

 

Jihoon looked stunning, all suited up. His hair in a side part with a bit of a curl to it, and the coat he wore over the black suit made him look like a (small) runway model. All in all he looked fucking amazing, and suddenly Seungcheol couldn’t speak.

 

_ “...Cheol? Are you there?” _

 

He snapped back into reality, tearing his eyes away from the smaller man. He panicked, realizing that he had to hang up before Jihoon got in. He couldn’t risk the other hearing something really embarrassing.

 

“Sorry! Reception is bad, hyung. I’ll call you back!” he blurted, with no intention of actually calling back.

 

His brother sputtered, “ _ Hey wait, I can tell you’re lying, just-” _

 

Seungcheol cancelled the call just in time before Jihoon opened the passenger door and stuck his (beautiful) head in. Quickly putting his phone on silent, Seungcheol tried to act like everything was normal.

 

“Hey! Welcome.” What the fuck. Why did he say that.

 

Jihoon raised a (stunning) eyebrow, a bit amused. “Thanks, I guess.” he said, his lips quirking a bit.

 

Seungcheol banged his head against the steering wheel. (Subtly, he would deny it if Jihoon asked what he was doing.) Unfortunately, he forgot the horn was placed there and scared himself half to death. 

 

“What the fuck!” he yelped, gripping the wheel for dear life. He turned towards Jihoon only to be met with what can only be a face holding in laughter. (Either that or constipated. He hoped for the former.) 

 

Seungcheol scowled. “Don’t.” he simply said before finally getting a move on.

 

Jihoon let out a soft laugh, and even though Seungcheol could only see him from the corner of his eye, he still felt blinded by the other. He looked so fucking good, honestly. Such a leap from the bloody, drunk mess he was the first time Seungcheol saw him. This is real character development.

 

Jihoon kept sneaking glances of the other. Seungcheol cleaned up well, seriously. His black hair was pushed to the front, bangs looking a bit ruffled, but still neat. He was wearing a black suit with a red tie, and he just looked incredibly good. Jihoon was a bit shook.

 

He managed to turn the radio on without Seungcheol’s help. At first it was a bit awkward. Two dudes in suits sitting in a car listening to the radio to avoid conversation, but eventually they both got more and more comfortable, and soon enough Jihoon started humming to the songs playing.

 

Seungcheol didn’t want to interrupt, and he found himself really enjoying the sound of Jihoon’s voice. When the song was over however, he had to ask.

 

“I didn’t know you could sing, do you study music or something?” he asked, glancing at the other.

 

Jihoon was looking out the window at the snowy fields they passed by. He looked ethereal in the winterlight. 

 

“I wanted to, but my parents didn’t like it.” he hummed, “We made a deal though. If I study economics as well, then I can study music. It didn’t work out though. Too many courses, and to much work.” he looked wistful all of a sudden. “I might go back to it someday though.”

 

Seungcheol felt a stab in his heart at how resigned the smaller looked. “Hey, if you like it, then you should do it, right?” he started. “I mean, if it’s something you enjoy, you’re more likely to succeed, and honestly, your voice is really good.” he felt himself go a bit warm at being so honest with the younger, but he really wanted him to do what he liked.

 

Jihoon laughed a bit. “Yeah, well doing what you like doesn’t always pay the bills, hyung. I’ll just keep it as a interest of mine I guess.”

 

The elder frowned a bit. “I get that, but seriously, you don’t seem like you’re happy with  _ not _ studying music, and in my experience, forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to with your life only ever leads to one place. Unhappiness.” he said. “I think you should go for it. Money will come around, and for now,  _ I _ could probably support you a bit financially.” Seungcheol felt more and more like a sugar daddy. Not his intention, but he didn’t mind so much.

 

Jihoon straightened up a bit with a sigh. “No, I don’t want to be dependent. I’ll think about pursuing a career in music, but I need to think about the future more than the present.” he reasoned. 

 

Seungcheol paused. “I still think you have a really nice voice though.” he said softly.

 

Jihoon let a slow smile spread across his face. “Thanks.” he said, looking down.

 

Seungcheol sneaked a glance at the younger and couldn’t help the way his own lips quirked a bit. Maybe this three hour car ride wouldn’t be so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhhhh yeah. they really cute now lmao
> 
> i dunno how they went from flirting and arguing to being all shy and sweet,,, maybe it's the suits and confusion over if this is an actual date or nah (spoiler: it is. they just don't know it)
> 
> yeah, sorry again for taking so long, i just kind of died because of my new schedule and new school BUT i'm back kind of. Can't promise the next chapter will come super quick but finishing this one reminded me of how much i like to write so hopefully it won't take a month?? 
> 
> ANYWAYS please tell me if you liked this or not!! i'll finish it regardless, but i could rly use some words of encouragement after this month of everything being on a standstill. I also have some one-shots i'm working on. might post them if i get around to finishing them, but this is my nr 1 priority right now!   
> I LOVE YOU ALL THANK YOU FOR READING AND LEAVING CUTE COMMENTS AND KUDOS (also lemme know if u want them to do the dirty or nah, because if you do,, they'll do it lmao)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know, its rly taking it's time lmao. but here is the next chapter yo, hope you guys enjoy! it's coming to an end soon.

Turns out three hours in a car gets to you. Jihoon didn’t mean to fall asleep, he’d been in the middle of a conversation with Seungcheol when he just felt like leaning his head against the window. He remembered hoping that he wouldn’t ruin his hair while leaning, but during a lull in the conversation he must have fallen asleep, because last thing he saw, there were trees and fields everywhere, not small, older style buildings and shopping centers. 

 

Jihoon straightened up, rubbing his eyes a bit. “... Did I fall asleep?”

 

Seungcheol huffed a quiet laugh. “Yeah, you’ve been out for like an hour and a half.”

 

“Seriously?” the shorter said, feeling a bit weirded out at the thought of suddenly falling asleep like that. College really gets to you, huh. (He also felt a bit embarrassed, but he didn’t want Seungcheol to know that.)

 

Seungcheol hummed. “We’re almost there, though.” he said, taking a right turn.  

“We have like, an hour before the ceremony starts, so we can get the hotel room set up a bit.”

 

Jihoon made a noise of affirmation, still trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. And the crick out of his neck. Fuck sleeping in the car, honestly.

 

___________________________________________________________________________

  
  
  


As they got closer to the hotel, Seungcheol felt more and more nervous. He hadn’t told Jihoon that they would have to share a bed, and he knew that that wouldn’t even be the worst conversation to have. They had to make up and establish some kind of past that didn’t involve Jihoon being drunk of his ass and Seungcheol screaming like a baby.

 

Seungcheol heaved a small sigh. It wouldn’t be fun. They’d also have to go through how they should act around the other guests. While it wouldn’t be very hard to fool most of the ceremony (Seungcheol’s brother included), Jihyo and his mom were quite perceptive. 

God, Seungcheol hoped Jihoon was a better liar than he was.

 

They finally found a parking spot, and after a moment they started walking through the unfamiliar streets towards their hotel. It was a rather small town, an _ d everything _ was decorated. The windows, the trees, the fucking walls. They even had christmas strings hanging between buildings. All of this coupled with the heavy layer of snow made for a pretty magical image.

 

They didn’t make much conversation on the way, Jihoon too busy appreciating the sights around him, and Seungcheol too busy trying not to look at Jihoon, because if he did he might walk into a pole.

 

They checked into the hotel with ease, and they had a good forty minutes until they had to be there. The church was within walking distance of the hotel, so thankfully, there was no rush. 

 

By the time they made it up the stairs Seungcheol was sweating like a whore in church. He suddenly wished he could go back in time and actually ask Jihoon about whether they should share a bed or not. What if Jihoon would be mad? What if he shouted at Seungcheol and accused him of being a pervert? Honestly Seungcheol might cry if that happened.

 

Watching Jihoon open the hotel room was the most nerve wracking experience in Seungcheol’s life. He could picture about five hundred different scenarios, and none were very good.

 

Jihoon opened the door, stepped inside, hung of his coat, and… laid down on the bed.

 

Seungcheol couldn’t breathe. Why couldn’t he just say something? Was he upset? Did he not notice? ...Did he expect Seungcheol to sleep on the floor?

 

Seungcheol snapped back into reality when he heard Jihoon groan. 

 

“I’m still tired. Can I skip the wedding and just take another nap?”

 

Honestly, Seungcheol was confused. He didn’t show the inner turmoil he had though, and hid it by laughing softly.

 

“No,” he said, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. “I gave you food. You better do this.” 

 

Jihoon groaned and rolled to the side. “Buy me more and I’ll consider it.”

 

Seungcheol lifted an eyebrow. Again with the sugar daddy role. If Mingyu had pressed him like this he’s probably slap the poor fellow, but thinking about Jihoon going hungry made him soft, and if Jihoon were to seriously ask for food, Seungcheol would deliver, no doubt.

 

Nevertheless, they didn’t have time for food. “Jihoon, stop rolling around in bed, you’ll wrinkle your suit. And we’ll get food there, probably way better food than whatever I would have bought.” he said, shrugging. He was psyching himself up for a conversation he didn’t want to have.

 

Seungcheol cleared his throat, making his way into the room to start unpacking. He wanted to do something with his hands if he was having this conversation.

 

“So…” he started. “We should probably, uh, go through like, what we should tell the others if they ask us any questions of how we met or something. We can’t really tell them that I found you during halloween passed out amongst trash on my patrol.” he finished, folding his pajamas. 

 

Jihoon hummed, still laying on the bed. “Yeah, that might give the wrong impression.” he agreed. “How about we stick as much to the truth as possible so we won’t get to confused? Like we could still have met during halloween, but it doesn’t have to entail me scaring you to death.”

 

Seungcheol pondered it for a moment. “Yeah, but how  _ did  _ we meet then? I don’t really party a lot, and honestly, I think I told my mom that we went on a blind date.”

 

Jihoon blinked. “When did you tell her that?”

 

“Uh, like the day I asked you if you could be my… partner in crime?” That was close. He’d been about to say date, but he saved himself. Nice one, Seungcheol.

 

“Mmhm. So, we met at a blind date. Where was the date?” he questioned, building on the universe just incase they might need it.

 

Seungcheol paused. “Where do you usually go for blind dates?”

 

“Restaurants? I guess?” Jihoon answered, a little unsure, but it sounded generic enough, so it was probably fine.

 

Seungcheol nodded, sitting down on one of the chairs. “Right, and after that we just hit it off? Like I got your number, we went on more dates, and I asked you to be my plus one for the wedding?”

 

“Sounds good enough.” Jihoon said, getting up from the bed to move to the mirror. He didn’t want to look bad for the wedding. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous about meeting Seungcheol’s family. He  _ might _ have a crush on the guy, and meeting them while pretending to be dating Seungcheol was a bit nerve wracking.

 

Seungcheol observed (read: ogled) Jihoon while the shorter fixed his hair in the mirror. He tried so hard not to let his eyes slip down to take a peek of that ass, but humans naturally look at prominent features, so you can’t really blame him. He quickly averted his gaze though, he didn’t want to get caught.

 

Seungcheol clapped his hands together, clearing his throat. “Ok, so we went on a blind date at a restaurant, I got your number, we went on more generic dates, and I asked you to come to the wedding.” 

 

Jihoon jumped a bit at the clap. Glaring at the elder through the mirror, he sighed. “Yeah. Are there any essential facts about you or your family I need to know?” he asked.

 

Seungcheol watched Jihoon straighten out his suit. “Hmm… Well, I work as a cop, but you knew that. My closest friend is a guy named Mingyu that I work with, and I’m really sweet.” he answered, ticking of his fingers.

 

Jihoon shot him a deadpan look. He didn’t say anything, he just raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

 

“And you?” Seungcheol prompted. “Anything I should know about you?”

 

Jihoon shook his head again. “Doesn’t matter, we could just come up with something on the spot. I don’t know anyone there. Just, I’m a college student, I major in economics, and I like music. You knew all of that already, so it shouldn’t be too hard to keep track off.”

 

Jihoon started walking towards the door. He’d unpack whatever he brought when they got back, he didn’t want to be late for the wedding. Seungcheol caught on and started moving towards the door as well. He was mentally going through anything he might have missed.

 

He really felt like he forgot something, but he couldn’t put his finger on what.

 

___________________________________________________________________________

  
  


When they got out of the hotel they were immediately faced with a couple holding hands and kissing. Seungcheol felt a lightbulb light up above his head.

 

“Right!” he exclaimed, making Jihoon jump and slip on the pavement. He just stopped himself from falling down and glared up at Seungcheol, elbowing him in the side.

 

“Ow, fuck!” Seungcheol cursed, holding his side. “I remembered something important.”

 

Jihoon raised an eyebrow, looking at him expectantly. “Well?”

 

“I… Don’t know how to phrase this.” He started, “We’re gonna have to, you know. Act like a couple.”

 

Jihoon raised another eyebrow. “Yeah?”

 

“I mean, like, lovey dovey and stuff…” Noticing the look in Jihoon’s eyes he quickly defended himself. “Not over the top or anything! But you know, a bit of hugging and touching maybe.” he felt himself flush at the thought, sticking his hands into his coat pockets to try and play it off.

 

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “I knew that already, idiot.”

 

Mocking a fake look of hurt, Seungcheol placed a hand on his chest. “I’m wounded. Why do you hurt me so with your words?”

 

Jihoon couldn’t quite keep a smile of his face. “Shut up.” he said, fighting the quirk of his lips.

 

___________________________________________________________________________

They heard the commotion before they even saw the church. There weren’t too many people gathered, but man, apparently Seungcheol’s family were a loud bunch. 

 

Jihoon started sweating despite the cold weather, feeling a bit nervous all of a sudden. He’d been fine up until a second ago, what the hell. What if he messed up. What if he couldn’t act well enough, or if they contradicted on a question? They hadn’t exactly been super thorough when they made the relationship up.

 

Too soon they arrived outside the church where all the people were huddled together. Laughter and loud complaining of the weather could be heard in equal measure, and Seungcheol easily spotted his mom mingling with their relatives. 

 

Swallowing down a lump in his throat he shuffled about a bit, knowing that they’d have to talk to her and start acting sooner or later. 

 

Thankfully they were saved by an angel himself, also known as Seungcheol’s uncle.

 

“Hey, if it isn’t my boy Seungcheol!” he laughed merrily, clapping Seungcheol on the shoulder before bringing him in for a hug.

 

Seungcheol couldn’t help the wide grin that spread across his face. “Hey, it’s really good to see you again.”

 

Parting, Seungcheol noticed Jihoon standing awkwardly to the side, trying desperately not to  _ look _ awkward. Not letting his smile die down, he gestured towards his uncle while keeping his eyes on Jihoon.

 

“Jihoon, this is my uncle on my dad’s side, Sungho.” he started. Gesturing towards Jihoon, he continued. “And this is my boyfriend, Jihoon.”

 

Sungho immediately stepped forward to shake Jihoon’s hand. “A pleasure, Jihoon!” he said with a gentle smile. 

 

Jihoon smiled back a bit stiffly, unused to such a bubbly and kind uncle. “Nice to meet you.” 

 

Jihoon’s own uncle was nothing like this man. Jihoon’s uncle was a homophobic, strict, scary man. He was the kind of person who would smack your hand if you reached for one too many sweets.

 

Seungcheol hid his laugh behind a cough, feeling amused at Jihoon’s stiff attempt at socializing.  

 

“Have you talked to you mom yet?” Sungho asked. “She’s been asking for you since I got here, like I would know where you are at all times.” he said, shaking his head.

 

Seungcheol shook his head in answer. “We literally just got here. I’ll get around to it.” he said, flashing a tiny smile.

 

“Right, well enjoy yourself boys. I’ll see you guys later!” Sungho said, retreating after giving them both a clap on the shoulder.

 

Jihoon let out a small breath, feeling a bit relieved. As far as he could tell this Sungho guy seemed pretty nice, but talking to him might get exhausting.

 

Seungcheol noticed Jihoon’s sigh. Glancing at the other, he raised an eyebrow. “You okay?”

 

“Yeah.” Jihoon answered, moving his hand up as if to run through his hair before remembering that he couldn’t. Frustrated, he just dropped his hand, letting it smack against his leg. “Just… I don’t know, what if I mess up?”

 

“Well…” Seungcheol started, glancing at the clear sky. “If you do, it won’t be the end of the world. Besides, if they start getting suspicious we could just blame it on the fact that we only started dating recently.”

 

Jihoon bit his lip lightly, considering. “Alright. But you won’t get a refund for the groceries you bought if this goes to hell.” 

 

Seungcheol chuckled. “Yeah, that’s fair. At the very least I’m still saved from mom setting me up for this wedding.”

 

Jihoon hummed, sticking his hands into his coat pockets. It was a sunny day, but that only made it feel colder and crisper out. Jihoon couldn’t wait to get inside.

 

“Seungcheol, dear!”  _ Oh no. _

 

Seungcheol turned around, seeing his mom walking towards them. He broke out into a cold sweat, thinking that this is how it ends. She probably has some random girl stuffed into her car just incase Seungcheol needs a  _ real _ date. (although he’d like to think about the date with Jihoon as a  _ real _ date.)

 

“Mom!” he exclaimed, scratching nervously at his neck. 

 

She enveloped him in a hug before smacking him on the head.

 

“Ow! What the hell?” Seungcheol exclaimed, immediately bringing his hand up to rub at his head.

 

Mrs. Choi just stared disapprovingly at him, rolling her eyes. “Oh dear lord, Seungcheol. Clean your mouth, we’re about to enter a church.”

 

Seungcheol just grimaced.

 

“Anyhow, the smack was for not coming straight to me to  _ finally _ introduce me to your date.” At that, she turned towards Jihoon, smiling. (smirking?)

 

Jihoon just stared up at her, seemingly forgetting his manners. (Seriously, what’s up with Seungcheol’s family, it’s not fair that Jihoon’s shorter than Seungcheol’s freaking mom.)

 

She raised an eyebrow, looking back at Seungcheol. “Well? Introduce me.” she said after a beat.

 

Seungcheol rubbed at his head. “Right…” he started, clearing his throat. “Mom, this is my boyfriend, Jihoon. Jihoon, this is my mother.”

 

Jihoon nodded, reaching out a hand towards the woman. “It’s very nice to meet you, Mrs. Choi.”

 

She shook his hand, giving him a soft smile. “Likewise. I wish I could say that Seungcheol has told me all about you, but he’s been quite secretive if I’m being completely honest.”

 

Jihoon let go of her hand, quickly glancing at Seungcheol before shooting his gaze back at his mom. “Yeah, uh. That’s probably because we haven’t really been official for very long.” he said, letting out a nervous laugh.

 

She raised an eyebrow. “Really? How long then?”

 

Jihoon felt himself falter. “Uh…” he looked at Seungcheol with intent. “You know I’m really bad with dates,  _ Hyung _ . When was it again?” 

 

Seungcheol thankfully took the bait. Deciding to take the fall, he quickly made something up. “Hmm, must have been around three or four weeks ago now.” he said, stepping closer to Jihoon and wrapping an arm around the smaller’s waist.

 

Jihoon felt himself twitch at the touch. Hopefully it wasn’t too noticeable. “Right, so it hasn’t been long at all actually.”

 

Mrs. Choi watched all of this with hawkeyes. Jihoon could actually feel her gaze penetrating his fucking soul.

 

She hummed, apparently feeling relatively pleased with either the answer or the display.

“I see.” she said simply. “Well, the church is opening any second now, so I’ll be on my way now to find your father, wherever he went of to. I’ll see you boys later!” she said, before turning on her heels and walking of.

 

Immediately Jihoon slunk out of Seungcheol’s grasp, closing his eyes and sighing heavily.

“Well that was fucking scary.” he said, looking at the snow covered ground.

 

Seungcheol let out a laugh. “Yeah, no kidding. She tends to have that effect on people.”

Jihoon hummed, agreeing. “I think… We’ll have to maybe, up our game a bit if we’re gonna fool her.” He said, staring intently at Seungcheol. “I could actually feel her gaze inside of me, looking for any tiny little lie.”

 

Seungcheol let out a breath, feeling his heart speed up a bit at the thought of ‘upping the game with Jihoon’. “Yeah, that might be necessary.” He felt himself flush but ignored it.

 

His attention was stolen away by the church opening the large doors and people starting to flood towards the entrance. 

 

Seungcheol let out a sigh, feeling a bit more positive since they managed to pass the first trial. Man, he looked forward to the alcohol. He’d need it if he were to live through the evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yeee i actually had to cut it off because it was getting so long lmao so i've already started on the next chapter, and it might be the last one (!!) also i've only ever been to two weddings and the last one was when i was like 13 so i don't remember a whole lot lmao, and also idk how an american (or korean) wedding works, so i just kinda,,, go from my experiences hahah 
> 
> but yeah this story is almost done (finally). can't believe the second thing i ever wrote (that was supposed to be a one-shot) escalated into whatever this is
> 
> THANKS FOR READING BABES <333 SEE YOU NEXT CHAPTER


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god. i'm so sorry this took so long!! i hit a giant writers block and i'm still kinda in it tbh but i'm trying!! promise!  
> forgive me my loves anyway here is another chapter, and sike, i said last time that it was just one or two chapters left, but NOW it's just one or two more chapters left! 
> 
> thank u all for being patient and stuff and i hope u enjoy!!<33

Seeing your brother all suited up walking down the aisle tends to get you a bit teary eyed, apparently. The ceremony was absolutely breathtaking, everything from the church and the candles, to Jihyo’s dress. 

 

Jihyo of course, didn’t cry. Seungcheol’s brother however did, and had to constantly be handed a napkin from his best man. So yeah, Seungcheol’s eyes  _ did _ get a bit watery, and yeah, he  _ might _ have let one or two tears fall. But that was it, really. 

 

The ceremony itself went amazingly well, considering this was the family Choi getting married. Usually ceremonies involving his family went pretty bad, with everything from the bride slipping on her dress, to a candle falling down and almost setting everything on fire, to the priest being hungover and reading the vows in sunglasses recorded.

 

Seungcheol was pretty happy that it went well, and he felt all warm inside when they both said yes and kissed. (that might also have to do with the fact that Jihoon was pressed closely against him. That tended to get to him.)

 

Unfortunately, Seungcheol hadn’t counted on the fact that they would need a car to get to the after party location. And unfortunately, that resulted in him and Jihoon riding along with Seungcheol’s parents. 

 

The ride was awkward to say the least, with Seungcheol’s dad being very quiet and looking out the window, and Seungcheol’s mom constantly bombarding them with questions. Most of the answers were made up on the spot, and apparently Jihoon now has a cat instead of a roommate. Not that a cat is a very big jump from whatever species Wonwoo is, what with his weird ass habits and constant naps.

 

Jihoon watched as Mrs. Choi drummed her fingers against the wheel, probably thinking about what to ask him next. This whole situation felt like an interrogation, and he couldn’t wait to get out of the car. Not that Seungcheol’s parents weren’t polite, but all the questioning made him uncomfortable. Especially since he couldn’t really be truthful about a lot of things.

But boy, did he come close to screaming that Seungcheol found him lying amongst trash bags while he was passed out drunk and that none of this was real several times.

 

Mrs. Choi took another breath, and Jihoon braced himself. 

“So, Jihoon,” she started, clearing her throat lightly. “you mentioned that you’re currently studying, but I never asked what, and while we’re at it, do you have any interests or such?”

 

She made eye contact with Jihoon through the rearview mirror, and Jihoon took a deep breath. 

 

_ Wouldn’t that be the first thing you ask? Why ask so much about my fucking dorm? Do you expect Seungcheol to move in? What the fuck. _

  
  


“I major in economics, minor in psychology.” he said, giving a straight answer. He glanced at Seungcheol quickly. He didn’t know what Seungcheol’s parents thought about music, and he’d really like a hint or something from Seungcheol. Unfortunately, Seungcheol is an idiot, and was of no help at all.

 

Jihoon licked his lips slightly. “Uhm, as for hobbies, I like music?” It wasn’t meant to sound like a question, but what can you do. 

 

Mrs. Choi raised an eyebrow. “Music? How do you mean? Like, listening to music, playing instruments, or maybe composing?”

 

“Uh, a bit of everything.” he answered, looking out the window, begging for help from God but receiving none.

 

She hummed. “That’s nice. I used to play the violin and piano when I were younger.” She quickly shot Jihoon another look before making a turn. “Which instruments do you play?”

 

Jihoon looked at Seungcheol, pleading with his eyes to be saved. Any other day he’d enjoy talking about music with someone who actually gets it, but right now all he wanted was a drink and a bed.

 

Seungcheol stared back at Jihoon. He knew that Jihoon wanted help out of the conversation, but Seungcheol didn’t actually know what instruments Jihoon could play, and he was curious damn it.

 

Jihoon frowned when it was apparent he wouldn’t be getting any help. Turning away from Seungcheol, and meeting Mrs. Choi’s expectant eyes, he thought for a second. 

“Uh, I play a bit of everything. Mainly the piano and guitar, but I know the basics of drums, violin and trumpet.” he said, scratching his chin. “I don’t really play a lot anymore though. Too much homework.” he laughed nervously.

 

“I see.” And that was the end of that conversation. Jihoon let out a quiet breath, hoping for silence the rest of the way.

 

Apart from some small comments from Seungcheol, Jihoon made it through the rest of the car ride with relative ease, and he had never felt more grateful to be out of a car.

 

Apparently they all had to wait until everyone had arrived (including the newly weds who were on a little car ride in a limousine.), and Jihoon wasn’t having it. He tapped Seungcheol’s arm, getting his attention. 

 

“I gotta go on the toilet. Where the fuck is it?” he asked nicely as soon as Seungcheol leaned down a bit.

 

Seungcheol just shrugged. “Do you think I’ve been here before? I have no idea.”

 

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “Figures. At least follow me on my search then.”

 

Seungcheol furrowed his brows, not really getting why Jihoon would need him to follow him to the toilet. He sighed, whatever, he’d get an explanation when they got there.

“Fine. Let’s just head for the main building and we should find one.”

 

For some reason there seemed to be more people outside waiting than there were at the ceremony. They both narrowly evaded walking into people several times on the short walk to the building. 

 

The building wasn’t open, but apparently that didn’t stop Jihoon from knocking harshly on the door. Seungcheol shook his head, why the fuck was Jihoon so desperate.

 

To Seungcheol’s amazement, one of the servers actually opened the door, and after explaining that they needed to use the toilet, they were let in. 

 

He followed Jihoon down the hallway until they reached the bathrooms, and after stepping inside, he went to lean against the wall while waiting for Jihoon to go. Only, Jihoon didn’t even get into a cubicle. He went for the fucking sink, and jumped up on it to sit.

 

Seungcheol just stared at the younger. “What the fuck. You didn’t even have to fucking pee?” 

 

Jihoon raised an eyebrow. “No? Why would I need your help? I just wanted to get away for awhile.”

 

“Ok? And why did you even bring me then?” Seungcheol asked, exasperated.

 

“If I miss everyone coming in to have dinner and come stumbling in late, I don’t wanna do it alone.” Jihoon deadpanned.

 

Seungcheol whistled lightly. “Talk about dragging me down with you.”

 

Jihoon just shrugged, rolling his neck and getting out his phone.

 

Seungcheol leaned more of his weight against the wall, reluctant to basically be a rule breaker, but not really having a choice. Bad influence, that’s what Jihoon is. 

 

He took this opportunity to observe (read; ogle) the younger man. There was no denying it, Jihoon was an _incredibly_ attractive guy, that was something Seungcheol had known since the start. And he looked especially good all dressed up like that. His light brown hair artfully tousled and slightly parted at the side, (looking like sex) his cute fucking eyes, his incredibly smooth skin, not to talk about those small, _pink_ lips. Fuck. 

 

Seungcheol had to take a calming breath before continuing. He couldn’t really see a lot from the way Jihoon was hunched over, but that suit definitely hugged him in all the right places. (not that Jihoon had any wrong places)  

Seungcheol watched Jihoon dangle his legs absentmindedly while he scrolled through his phone.  _ So. Fucking. Cute.  _

 

He was going insane. He just wanted to grab the younger and either hug him tight enough that they both stopped breathing, or fuck him hard enough for that to happen. He couldn’t really tell the difference at the moment.

 

Seungcheol was pulled out of his (rude) ogling and (inappropriate) fantasy by the realization that they’d been in there for way too long. Quickly, he straightened up and walked towards the sink where Jihoon was seated. 

 

“I don’t know how long we’ve been in here for, but we should probably get out now.” he said, watching as Jihoon gave a slow nod before putting his phone away and jumping down.

 

Seungcheol noticed a smirk on Jihoon’s face as he walked past him, and felt a lot like the butt of a joke. “What?” he asked, “Why are you smiling like that?”

 

Jihoon let out a soft chuckle. “I just realized something.” he just said. Seungcheol waited for an elaboration, but it was clear that Jihoon wouldn’t be expanding the sentence without probing.

 

“Well? What’d you realize?” Seungcheol asked, done with life.

 

“When a couple disappears during a wedding, only to reappear a suspicious amount of time later, what do you think the other guests will think?” Jihoon asked, smirk growing into a vicious grin. 

 

Seungcheol felt himself go red. He didn’t need any more fantasies, thank you very much. 

“If someone asks, I’ll tell them you had to poop really bad.” he deadpanned.

 

That seemed to turn Jihoon’s mood around. “Fuck off, I’ll tell them that we needed some  _ alone time _ . You know, as a new couple and all.” he countered.

 

Oh, this was a game he wanted to play? Well, Seungcheol could fucking play.

 

“Uh huh, well I’ll tell them that you got sudden, explosive diarrhea.”

 

Jihoon frowned at the other. “I’ll tell them that you were a bit  _ excited,  _ and that I had to take care of that.” he said. Surely Seungcheol wouldn’t be able to beat that.

 

The man in question smirked, he still had an ace up his sleeve after all. 

“Go ahead. I’ll tell them that you were so horny that you couldn’t even wait until we were  _ allowed _ in the building, and that we had to sneak in anyway.”

 

Yeah, that shut Jihoon up. He gaped at the elder, and they could barely maintain eye contact for five full seconds before they both exploded into laughter. 

Or well, Jihoon exploded into laughter. Seungcheol did too, and he used it to try and conceal that the banter  _ did _ get him a bit excited, as Jihoon would say. He cleared his throat, settling with a smile on his face before he put a hand on Jihoon’s back to guide him out of the bathroom.

 

They immediately realized that all of the guests had been let in, and they could hear loud chatter from the dining hall. Fortunately enough, they weren’t  _ actually  _ late, but people had definitely started finding their seats already. 

 

They also managed to evade Seungcheol’s mom which was lucky. If anyone had noticed they were gone for a ‘suspicious amount of time’, it would be her. Thankfully, they managed to blend with the other guests and found their seats surprisingly quickly.

 

Once seated, Jihoon let out a deep sigh, propping his chin up on his hand while he watched the remaining guests find their seats. Now, luck can only last you so long, which they realized when literally all of Seungcheol’s closest family members were seated either next to, or across them. Including the newly-weds.

 

Jihoon could see Seungcheol gulp down some water as he sent a quick prayer up to God. Neither of the two were really in the mood for chatting to Mrs. Choi again. Who knew what kind of questions she had stored.

 

Surprisingly enough, Mrs Choi only sent Seungcheol a suspicious glance before starting up a quiet conversation with her husband. Jihoon breathed a sigh of relief while Seungcheol tensed up. He knew  _ exactly _ what that look meant. She had noticed their absence, and she didn’t approve. Obviously, what she had in mind was way off, but Seungcheol couldn’t really tell her that ‘No, we weren’t fucking in the bathroom five minutes ago, mom.’. That would probably both make things fairly awkward, and it would also be quite unbelievable.

 

Seungcheol’s brother however, seemed to have a lot to say. 

“So, Seungcheolie,” he started with a sickening smile (to Seungcheol at least). “I never really got to ask you about your date since you hung up on me this morning.” 

 

Curse his brother. Curse him well. “Right… Uhm, reception was bad and stuff.” he answered, trying to save his ass. Seungcheol could feel Jihoon’s confused eyes burning into the side of his head.

 

His brother only snorted. “Yeah, and I would be an idiot to actually fall for that.” he said, still smiling knowingly. “Now, why don’t you tell me how you guys met?” 

 

Seungcheol took another gulp of water, trying to remember what he told his mom (who was obviously listening in on the conversation). “Uh…” was all that came out of his mouth.

 

“We actually went on a blind date.”  _ Bless Jihoon. Seungcheol’s definitely buying him more groceries after this. _

 

Seungcheol’s brother raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Did you start dating right after that, or did you like, go on more dates?” 

 

Jihoon fiddled with his rings a little as he came up with an answer. “We went on one or two more dates before we decided to try the whole relationship thing.” he said. “Seungcheol had already asked me to be his plus one for the wedding, so it would have been a bit weird if we were still on the fence between dating and not.” he finished, laughing lightly.

 

Seungcheol’s brother hummed lightly, looking Jihoon up and down. “I see.”

 

At this point Jihyo took hold of the conversation. “So Jihoon, right? What do you do?” she asked with a slight smile. She was a bit fed up with hearing her husband (!!) press the couple for answers.

 

Jihoon stumbled a bit, not expecting the bride to join in. “Oh. I’m a, uh, student.” he answered gracefully.

 

Jihyo raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow. “How old are you?” She clearly didn’t realize he meant college student.

 

“I’m 22.” he answered, a bit offended that she thought he was younger. What did she expect? Jihoon being a fucking high school student? Dating a 26 year old man? Not likely.

 

She looked surprised, as did Seungcheol. “I thought you were 21?” He said without thinking.

  
Mrs Choi turned her head to stare at Seungcheol, obviously questioning why he didn’t know his “boyfriend’s” birthday. 

 

“Yeah, I turned 22 like a week after we first met, and I just forgot to bring it up.” Jihoon said quickly, trying to cover Seungcheol’s ass.

 

Seungcheol nodded his head, laughing a bit. “Oh, yeah that makes sense.” His mother was still staring at him weirdly, but he thought they managed to salvage that quite nicely.

 

After a fairly awkward pause in the conversation (which Seungcheol refused to admit was awkward) the food came. 

 

Seungcheol was sure that God was already fed up with how much he was communicating with him, but he sent a quick thanks up anyways. 

 

After the food arrived everything seemed to run much more smoothly. Seungcheol’s brother and a couple others held speeches while Jihoon and Seungcheol simply observed, thankful about not being the center of attention anymore. 

 

Everyone seemed to be in good spirits, and even Jihoon felt himself loosen up a bit (probably due to the ridiculous amount of champagne he’d downed). 

Jihoon felt his phone vibrate as the meal was coming to an end. Picking it up and seeing Sooyoung's ridiculous face on his phone, he quickly excused himself and walked out of the room.

 

Soonyoung had made the agreement with Jihoon to call him at some point and check on how things were going. Jihoon could have probably used his help earlier, but whatever. 

 

“Yeah, it’s me.” he said when he picked up. Jihoon heard a snort from the other side of the line.

 

“ _ Yeah, ok but why did that sound like you’re a fucking spy in the middle of a job?”  _ Soonyoung questioned, easily amused as always.

 

Jihoon sighed and scratched the back of his head. “That’s kind of how i feel right now, not gonna lie.”

 

Soonyoung hummed. “ _ Fair enough, dear friend. So how are things going? Have you been found out? Have you and dream boy slow danced yet? Oh my God, have you kissed yet?” _

 

Jihoon flushed at the questioning, swallowing. “No! God, no Soonyoung. Why would we even do that?” He asked, pinching his temples.

 

Jihoon could practically hear Soonyoung’s eye roll through the phone. “ _ Oh I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware that you wanted people to realize that this relationship was fake.”  _ he teased. “ _ Seriously though Jihoon, if you want to sell it you’ve gotta step up the game. Hold his hand, lean your weight on him, smile at him like the lovesick idiot you are, you know, the basics.” _

 

“Wait what?” 

 

“ _ What?” _

 

Jihoon narrowed his eyes at the innocent wall in front of him. “Did you just imply that I  _ like _ Seungcheol?”

 

There was silence between the two for a few seconds. “ _... I mean, it’s kinda hard to miss.” _

 

Jihoon just gaped at the implications. “I’m- I mean, no it’s not-” he started before being rudely interrupted by his so called best friend.

 

Soonyoung sighed. “ _ Jihoon drop the act. We both know you like him, and we both know he likes you. Just, I don’t know, go for it.”  _ he started. _ “Besides, it would really help sell the act! You wouldn’t want Seungcheol’s mom finding out that this was a big hoax, right? I mean, I don’t know about you, but I’ve met the woman and she frightens me.” _

 

Jihoon sighed heavily, leaning back against the wall behind him. “You don’t know that he likes me, dude. This could just as well be just a fake date because he didn’t want to be set up. Besides he asked a lot of people to do this before he asked me.” he said, wallowing in self-pity.

 

Soonyoung groaned through the phone, obviously frustrated. “ _ Yeah, he asked everyone else because he was nervous about asking you. He likes you and your stupid ass, trust me. Just, get back in there and at least act like a real couple, and then when you’re alone you can talk, capisce?” _

 

Jihoon just let out a breath, standing back up. He didn’t really see a choice, so better to just get it over with. He can’t hide forever. “Yeah, whatever. I’ll call you later.” With a good luck from Soonyoung, he hung up, sighing.

 

He was contemplating on how to act when he got back when the bride popped out from behind a corner, startling the fuck out of Jihoon.

 

“Shit!” he exclaimed, holding onto his heart. “You scared me, holy fuck.”

 

Jihyo said a quick sorry while walking up to him, leaning against the wall beside him. 

 

The silence between them just started to get uncomfortable enough for Jihoon to want to move when she spoke up.

 

“I heard you, you know.” She started, glancing at him. “I’m guessing you and Seungcheol aren’t really dating, then?” 

 

Jihoon felt the blood drain from his face. Clearing his throat shakily he stuttered. “Uh, no we- we are! I was just, you know- uh.”

 

Jihyo let out a soft chuckle. “You’re a terrible liar you know. It’s alright, I won’t tell anyone. I’m just trying to understand the situation here.” she said, tucking a brown strand of hair behind her ear. She truly looked beautiful, Jihoon thought, glancing at her.

 

He let out sigh nr.587 of the day, contemplating whether he should explain it to her or not. She didn’t seem like she meant any harm, and it would be nice to have an outsiders’ opinion. (Not including Soonyoung. He was biased.)

 

Jihoon swallowed quickly, making up his mind. “You’re right. We aren’t actually dating.” He said. Licking his lips and throwing a glance at her, he continued. “We’re just-” he paused, unsure if he could use the word friends or not. They weren’t really friends after all. “Acquaintances.” he finished, letting out a sigh. “I don’t know, he asked me to be his date for the wedding just so that his mom wouldn’t set him up again, and I agreed because I’m a fucking idiot who apparently gets a crush on someone as soon as they show interest in me. Fake or not.” 

 

Lifting a hand up to his forehead, he took a deep breath before continuing. “I’m so fucked. I think this was supposed to be a kinda ‘friends helping each other out’ kind of thing, but I think I might have fallen for him somewhere along the line, and it’s fucking terrifying, because this is all fake, and after this we probably won’t see each other much at all.” 

 

Taking a shaky breath and blinking away the tears that formed in his eyes, he sighed again. “I don’t know what to do.” he finished, feeling exhausted.

 

Jihyo took a few moments to let it all sink in before smiling softly and grabbing Jihoon’s shoulder gently. “Listen, I know Seungcheol quite well, and I know this sounds cheesy, but I’ve never seen him like this.” she began, tilting her head. “At first, I thought he was just nervous about being found out, but when I thought about it, I think there’s a lot more to it than that.”

 

Jihoon furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at her.

 

She cleared her throat gently. “I don’t think those stares he’s been shooting at you are fake, Jihoon.” she said simply before patting his cheek affectionately.

 

“We should both get back. I think dinner is almost over.” She said before turning around and walking towards the entrance. Jihoon followed suit, mulling over their conversation as they walked back towards their table. 

 

As soon as he saw Seungcheols’ face the butterflies in his stomach awoke. How the hell would he be able to tell Seungcheol that he  _ likes _ him if he has to look at that face. Not likely to happen.

 

At Seungcheols’ confused glance Jihoon cleared his throat as he sat back down to the right of him. Mrs. Choi shot both Jihyo and Jihoon questioning glances, and to no one's’ surprise, she spoke up about it.

 

“What was that all about?” she said, the question more directed towards Jihyo than Jihoon, but she made sure to send him a glance as well.

 

Jihyo just smiled sweetly. “I just wanted to talk a bit to Seungcheol’s boyfriend. You know, we have so much in common! It appears that there are several traits that apply to both of these idiot brothers.” she said, smile now transformed into a slightly evil smirk. She received an offended glare from her husband, but ignored it in favor of pretending to focus on the piece of cake she still had on her plate. Jihoon looked anywhere but Seungcheol’s questioning eyes, choosing instead to focus on his glass of champagne.

 

Mrs. Choi cleared her throat. Standing up and clinking her spoon against her glass, she started speaking. “Well, everyone. I think dinner is coming to an end, and I can see that the band up on the stage is ready, so please everyone, let’s all mingle, and congratulations to the bridepair again!” at everyone's’ cheers the woman grabbed her handbag and made her way out of the room, possibly to attend to some arrangement or whatever it is she does.

 

Seungcheol leaned in closer to Jihoon as some of the guests started to rise from their seats. 

“Hey, what did you and Jihyo talk about?” he asked. If he noticed Jihoon flush at the proximity he chose not to comment on it.

 

Jihoon leaned away slightly. “Nothing much, just some general polite small talk.” he answered. No way in hell would Seungcheol ever find out how Jihoon almost started crying while confessing to her that he  _ likes _ Seungcheol. 

 

Jihoon licked his lips and stood up abruptly, wanting to get away from the questioning.

He took a look around, already feeling overwhelmed at the amount of people around. He sighed, let the party begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again i wanna apologize bc life has been crazy and then i've been lazy and unproductive but hopefully that'll turn!! ALSO i reallyyyy wanna thank everyone who leaves a comment bc it's like literally the only reason that i got of my ass to actually finish this chapter!! 
> 
> and please you're all welcome to scream at me when i'm slow bc most likely it's just bc i've been procrastinating lol  
> i loooove u all<33333


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here have anotha one as an apology for my lateness lol  
> ok but seriously this is disgustingly sweet have fun dear friends

Listen, Jihoon didn’t plan to get quite as tipsy as he was, but in his defence he didn’t really want to deal with everything while sober. Sometimes you just need a drink or five to stop overthinking. That’s what Jihoon told himself at least. And it’s not like he was drunk, he did  _ not _ want to be drunk and potentially mess something up, but sober Jihoon insisted that tipsy Jihoon should take over, and that he did.

 

Obviously, he didn’t do anything weird or crazy, he still had his self-control thank you very much. He just relaxed a little, managed to actually hold a few decent tconversations with strangers, oh and he also leaned against Seungcheol’s arm. (Thank you Soonyoung for the tip)

 

They’d been sitting down for a few minutes, taking a break from mingling, when Jihoon made really awkward eye contact with Seungcheol’s mother. Recalling what Soonyoung had said earlier about selling it, he looked away and then scooted a bit closer to Seungcheol so he could comfortably lean his weight against him.

 

Man, Jihoon was glad that he was a bit tipsy. There’s no was he would have been able to do that completely sober.

 

Seungcheol on the other hand wasn’t even tipsy. He was sober as ever and wondering what the hell Jihoon was doing. Not that he didn’t enjoy having a blushing Jihoon lean against him, because fuck, he enjoyed it very much, but this was not typical Jihoon behaviour, and he couldn’t help but question everything.

 

Most likely Jihoon just wanted to get any suspicions Mrs. Choi had out of the way, but Seungcheol chose to enjoy the warmth against his side either way. 

 

He was debating whether to throw an arm around Jihoon or not when his uncle came up to the pair.

 

“Hey kids! What are you doing sitting down here? You should go dance!” he exclaimed, slightly too enthusiastically, and with a rosy tint to his cheeks.

 

Seungcheol sighed amused. Obviously his uncle was drunk. 

“We’re taking a break I guess.” Seungcheol said, smiling at the man. “It’s more tiring than you’d think, just walking around talking to people.”

 

Sungho scoffed at that. “You’re young! You have loads of energy! Besides, a new couple should always dance together!” He said, always the enthusiast. 

 

Seungcheol just laughed. “Maybe later, right now I don’t think we’re really up for it.” 

 

Sungho frowned a bit, confused as to why the hell they wouldn’t want to dance before he realized. “Oh…” he started, looking like he’d figured out the mysteries of the universe. “I see, you’re waiting for when the slow dancing starts! Of course!” he stated, looking proud of himself. 

 

He leaned in to Seungcheol’s ear. “I see you’re more romantic than everyone thinks, boy. Good luck!” he whisper-shouted. Most likely Jihoon heard it, since Sungho wasn’t known for being very quiet, but it’s one of the things Seungcheol likes the most about the jolly man.

 

Jihoon hadn’t moved in so long Seungcheol started to think he might have fallen asleep on him, but a quick glance to his side confirmed that he was very much awake, and very much embarrassed, unless the alcohol was to blame for the redness of his cheeks. Somehow Seungcheol doubted that.

 

He smiled a private smile, looking down at the younger, admiring the way his hair was no longer perfectly styled, but still managed to look very nice. He couldn’t help but lift a hand up to it, running his fingers through the brown locks. 

 

Obviously Jihoon thought that Seungcheol couldn’t see his face, because he had no qualms about closing his eyes to enjoy the sensation. Seungcheol smiled softly as he continued to pet Jihoon’s hair, being careful not to get his fingers stuck or to pull too hard since there was still a fair amount of product in it. 

 

Seungcheol’s brother closing in on them made Seungcheol drop his hand from Jihoon’s head, and a beckoning from him made Seungcheol murmur to Jihoon that he’d be right back. Jihoon straightened up, not making eye contact with Seungcheol, being the embarrassed little shit that he was.

 

Seungcheol stood up, smoothing out his suit before following his brother to the balcony which was mostly free of people.

 

“What’s up?” he asked once the buzz of the people wasn’t as overwhelmingly loud anymore.

 

Seunghyun stared at him for a moment, considering. “I wanted to talk to you about Jihoon.”

 

Looking like a deer caught in headlights, Seungcheol gulped. “Why?”

 

Seunghyun looked out at the view, and just sighed. “I just… Want you to tell me the truth.” he said. “How did you and Jihoon really meet? And why are you both so very obviously acting weird with each other?” he asked, turning to face his brother straight on.

 

Seungcheol was at a loss for words. He knew that he was a bad liar, and this time Jihoon wouldn’t be able to save him. He let out a breath into the cold night air, walking to stand beside Seunghyun. 

 

Leaning against the railing, he tried to organize his thoughts.

“I… Met Jihoon during halloween.” he started, licking his lips. “I was on patrol, walking through town. Must have been around 4 in the morning or something.”

 

Seunghyun continued to stared at him with that pokerface of his, and Seungcheol tried to get his bearings.

 

“I found him in an alley, bloody and amongst trash.” At his brothers’ horrified look he hurried to clarify. “No! No, it was fake blood!” He said, lifting his hands up in a defensive motion. “He was passed out drunk, and then he reached out to me when I was about to check his pulse and fuck, I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

 

He cleared his throat. “Anyway, we helped him get home and that was that. But then the next day I was out with mom and saw him and his friend sitting at the café we were at.” Seungcheol paused, remembering who said friend was. “Do you remember Soonyoung? The guy I used to hang out with when I was a kid?” he asked.

 

Seunghyun looked confused for a second before he seemingly remembered. “Oh yeah, that funky looking kid! Always had mismatched clothes, got into trouble a lot?” 

 

At Seungcheol’s nod he hummed. “Yeah I remember him. He was a funny kid.”

 

Seungcheol smiled slightly, reminiscing. “Yeah, he’s the friend Jihoon was sitting with. So anyway, I said hi, teased him a little and went on my way. But then we started meeting  _ everywhere _ , and I started to kind of like him a little? I got a tiny crush maybe, and then mom called about your engagement and I panicked and told her I already had a date, even though I didn’t.”

 

He took a deep breath before continuing. “I asked him to do me a favor by being my date, and he agreed because I bought him groceries, and now-”

 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Seunghyun put his hands up to slow his brother down. “You bought him groceries?”

 

Seungcheol just nodded and attempted to continue the story, but Seunghyun wasn’t having it. “Are you in some kind of weird sugar daddy relationship, Seungcheol?” he asked directly, looking worried.

 

Seungcheol glared at his brother. “No. Let it go, it’s not that deep.” He said, annoyed at being interrupted. “ _ As I was saying, _ I still like him, but I’m not sure where we stand, and this can  _ not _ get out to mom. I’m serious, mom can’t know about this.” he said, going back to glaring at him.

 

Seunghyun nodded and crossed his heart before taking a deep breath. “Ok, my take on this is that you’re whipped, but you’re fake dating, and you don’t know if he’s in it for the money or for you. Is that it?”

 

Seungcheol raised an eyebrow. “No, it’s not- I mean he’s not in it for the money, come on. It’s that I don’t know if he’s just playing the part because he’s doing me a favor or if he actually, you know… Likes me…” he admitted, suddenly finding his shoes very interesting.

 

Seunghyun sighed, placing a hand on Seungcheol’s shoulder. “Listen, here’s what you do-”

 

Just as he took a breath to speak, Mrs. Choi popped out, glaring at them both.

“Do you boys have no manners at all?” She asked, fuming. 

 

The brothers shot equally distressed glances at each other before focusing on the woman before them. 

 

She placed her hands on her hips and her lips thinned. “Seungcheol. Leaving your boyfriend behind, to tend to himself? Not to mention  _ you! _ ” Pointing at Seunghyun, she looked quite upset. “Leaving your  _ wife,  _ at her wedding! I can’t even believe the two of you! I didn’t raise you like this. Now get back to your respective partners and tell them you’re sorry about your behaviour.” 

 

She left no room for discussion, and they both quickly passed her as they made their way inside. Seungcheol made a face at his brother and got an equally expressive one back. He shook his head as he made his way back to where he last left Jihoon.

 

He spotted said man staring at his phone, most likely texting someone. He was about to just sit down when he made eye contact with a still irritated Mrs.Choi, and decided to play it up a little. 

 

As he approached the younger he leant down to kiss the top of his head before sitting down. He leant closer to the shell-shocked Jihoon and mumbled that he was sorry if he startled him, but that he’s actually afraid of his life due to his mother. 

 

Jihoon seemed to understand as he shot a glance at the woman in question, looking much more pleased than she had a minute ago. Jihoon sighed and said that it was fine as he put his phone back into his pocket.

 

He felt the crown of his head tingling after Seungcheol’s kiss, but he was  _ not _ about to focus on that. 

 

Just then Sungho came by, gesturing for them to get up. Confused, they did as he told and waited for him to get close enough so that they could speak. 

 

“Boys! Get out on the floor now! They’re about to play some calmer music!” he shouted. (unnecessarily since they were close enough that it actually hurt their ears a little.)

 

Once again, he leant in close to Seungcheol to “discreetly” whisper something to him.

“Go get em tiger!”

 

And with that he was gone, and Seungcheol had no way of refusing when they were already standing up. He cleared his throat, turning towards Jihoon who was fiddling with his tie, looking adorable as ever. Seeing Jihoon nervous somehow made Seungcheol less nervous, and he reached out to guide him towards the dance floor with a smile on his lips.

 

Jihoon could feel his heart literally beat out of his chest as a warm hand on his back guided him away from the relative safety of his chair, and he was honestly uncertain if he would make it or not.

 

As they got to the middle of the dance floor, Beyoncé’s halo started playing, because both Jihyo and Seunghyun are sluts for Beyoncé. Already many couples started slowing down their dancing, and the lighting dimmed to a more intimate red. 

 

Jihoon glanced nervously up at Seungcheol, not wanting to be the one to initiate anything, but also not wanting to just stand there like an idiot. After a slight pause Seungcheol grabbed Jihoons’ arms and put them on his own shoulders as he moved closer, gripping gently onto Jihoons’ hips. 

 

It felt unbearable to look Seungcheol in the eyes, so instead Jihoon chose to focus on his chest. Not the smartest move, but definitely better than having eye contact.

 

They began to sway in time with the music. Neither of them knew how to properly slow dance, but it didn’t seem like anyone else did either, so it was probably fine. 

 

Jihoon hadn’t been this nervous in forever. He was actually scared that Seungcheol might be able to feel how fast his heart was beating, or maybe smell his fear or whatever. He couldn’t deny that it felt very nice to be this close to Seungcheol though, but it was definitely nerve wracking. 

 

They kept swaying in this manner for a song or two, before Seungcheol started to actually observe the other. 

 

His hair was still a bit ruffled from earlier when Seungcheol had played with it, which made him look effortlessly beautiful. He had a constant flush on his face and ears, and Seungcheol couldn’t actually see if his eyes were open or not, but his lashes cast a soft shadow on the top of his cheeks that made him look very soft. 

 

The red lighting had been switched for a cooler blue, but still as gentle and intimate, and it made the younger look absolutely ethereal. Seungcheol couldn’t help himself as he leant down to the side of his face. 

 

“You look beautiful.” was the only thing he said after a moment's hesitation. The effect was immediate. Jihoon looked up at Seungcheol, looking so, so vulnerable. He couldn’t tell in this light, but he would bet some serious money that Jihoon’s flush had deepened.

 

Seungcheol could feel Jihoon’s hands tightening on his shoulders as he ducked his head down again, murmuring a soft thank you. 

 

He felt butterflies in his stomach at the others’ bashfulness, letting a soft smile spread on his lips. “Seriously, this is a big step up from the first time i saw you.” he teased.

 

Jihoon stomped on Seungcheol’s foot and shot a glare up at said man. “Shut up.” he shot back.

 

Seungcheol just giggled. “Kidding, kidding. You were cute back then too.”

 

This time Jihoon tensed up and he buried his head in the others’ chest, feeling embarrassed. “Stop that.” he mumbled, not really caring if the other heard him or not.

 

“What, it’s true.” Seungcheol said, giggling. He paused for a while, going back to swaying softly to the rhythm. “When I saw you this morning I kind of lost my breath for a moment, not gonna lie.”

 

Jihoon looked up slightly at that, still looking shy as ever, but also glaring without menace.

“You looked like a model, seriously.” he paused, making sure they had eye contact before he continued. “I’m so happy you agreed to come with me today.”

 

“Me too…” mumbled Jihoon, this time keeping his eyes locked onto Seungcheol’s.

 

Jihoon took this opportunity to let his eyes glide over Seungcheol’s features as well. And if his eyes lingered a little at his lips, Seungcheol didn’t say anything. He was to busy ogling Jihoon himself.

 

“Hey, Jihoon…” he breathed softly, still keeping his eyes on the youngers’ lips. At Jihoons’ quiet hum he continued. “Can I kiss you?” he asked, sounding much more calm than he actually felt.

 

He saw Jihoon swallow before he let out an affirmative, as well as tilting his head a fraction to the right.

 

Seungcheol smiled softly before leaning in, slowly, he didn’t want to startle him. He closed his eyes just as their lips touched, and they stopped swaying. They stopped listening to the music, and stopped caring about where they were.

 

At the first soft press of lips, Seungcheol let all of the tension leave his shoulders, which Jihoon could most likely feel, considering his hands were holding onto them for life. Seungcheol felt Jihoon start to move his lips, and copied dutifully, letting one of his hands go up to the back of Jihoon’s head for stability, the other one staying by Jihoon’s hip, softly caressing.

 

Jihoons’ brain had long since stopped working, and he was going entirely by feeling at this point. He tilted his head a bit further to the side, and he moved a fraction closer. 

 

Having Jihoon’s body pressed up against his own made the angle a little awkward, and Seungcheol had to strain his neck in order to kiss his mouth, and not like, his nose, but it was worth it. Eventually though, reality caught up with them, and Seungcheol separated with a peck on Jihoons’ cheek.

 

He hadn’t noticed until now, but the hand on Jihoons’ hip had slowly made a descent to his ass, which was very much not appropriate and as much as he wanted to stay pressed up against Jihoon, that was also very much not appropriate.

 

He decided that appropriateness could wait a minute though when he saw Jihoons’ half lidded eyes and rosy lips. But yeah, maybe they shouldn’t stay pressed against each other in  _ this _ manner. Not only were they in public, but there were also children present. Instead he grabbed the back off Jihoon’s head and tucked it into his neck while the other hand wound around his back, squeezing him softly. Jihoons’ own arms went around Seungcheols’ waist, and just like that the embrace was family friendly.

 

Seungcheol felt Jihoon sigh softly and couldn’t agree more. He couldn’t stop himself from grinning with all his might, taking a deep breath and letting it back out before pecking Jihoons’ head and separating. He grabbed a hold of Jihoons’ hands and pulled him away from the dance floor.

 

Making eye contact, they both agreed that it was probably time to leave. They had some things planned.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so next chapter will most likely be literally just smut so for anyone uncomfortable with that this is probably a good place to stop!! also i finally had to choose a name for coups brother lmao it's been 8 chapters poor fella   
> so coups is whipped and woozi is whipped and they just realized that wow we're both fucking idiots and let's go fuck lovingly basically
> 
> well that's that we'll see if i'll get the last chapter up soon or not i hope so but you never know hahah but i really just wanna finish this like now so i can stop feeling so guilty about it yo   
> peace out thank you for reading<3333


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